Patron saint festival In 27 days
Feast of Saint Martin of Tours
📅 Every year, on 11 November
On 11 November Ormea celebrates its patron Saint Martin of Tours, to whom the Romanesque Collegiata di San Martino is dedicated.
The name comes from Latin Ulmeta, the place of elms, once plentiful here; it became Ulmea, kept in dialect, then Olmea and finally Ormea. The town sits where the Armella joins the Tanaro, in a basin of the Ligurian Alps; from the Saracen tenth century the round tower of Barchi still stands on its crag.
In 1722 Ormea became a marquisate of its own in the Savoy state, and its marquis Carlo Vincenzo Ferrero set up a wool mill that could match the English: it was chosen to supply the army's red cloth. Napoleonic troops reduced the castle and the factory on the square to rubble; in 1804 Napoleon gave it the title of city.
🎉 Festivals and feasts in Ormea 1
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Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
Near Ormea
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Places to see within 25 km
Outside Ormea, but an easy day trip away.
Royal Palace of Caserta 📍 Caserta · 21 km The Bourbon palace: 1,200 rooms, 1,742 windows and three kilometres of fountains uphill. Ponte Leproso 📍 Benevento · 17 km Roman bridge over the Sabato where the Via Appia entered Benevento, rebuilt in 1712; UNESCO site. Basilica del Corpus Domini 📍 Maddaloni · 17 km Maddaloni's main church, with a high altar designed by Luigi Vanvitelli and panels by Pompeo Landolfo. basilica della Madonna delle Grazie 📍 Benevento · 17 km Neoclassical Greek-cross basilica to the patron Madonna of Benevento, with a Franciscan convent. teatro romano di Benevento 📍 Benevento · 17 km Roman theatre inaugurated under Hadrian between 125 and 128, with a 98-metre cavea; still used for shows. duomo di Benevento 📍 Benevento · 17 km Cathedral rebuilt after its destruction in 1943, keeping the Romanesque façade, bell tower and ancient crypt.