Novara spent the twentieth century getting smaller: Vercelli was split off in 1927, the Verbano-Cusio-Ossola area in 1992. What is left ranks seventh in Piedmont by size but fourth by population, 365,559 people across 87 municipalities, and it faces east as much as west, its long Lombard border running past Milan, Varese and Pavia.
The capital city, Novara, has more than 100,000 residents, yet it is not the first place travellers go. That is Orta San Giulio, a municipality of 1,163 people, home to the basilica of San Giulio, the Sacro Monte di Orta and the castle of Buccione. Behind Novara in the same ranking come Borgomanero, Trecate and Arona. Few provinces are led by their smallest name.
Map and list are connected: hover one to light up the other, click to enter.
Our editors' ranking: the area's most important places, drawn from the individual town guides. See the national rankings →
1 🖼️ Museums Colosso di san Carlo Borromeo 📍 Arona A copper statue 35 metres tall, blessed in 1698: you can climb inside it, right up into the saint's head. 
2 🏛️ Squares & old towns Casa Bossi 📍 Novara Alessandro Antonelli's residence in Novara of 1857-1859, second in the FAI «Luoghi del cuore» of 2010. 3 🏛️ Squares & old towns Casa Della Porta 📍 Novara Gothic residence of Cardinal Ardicino della Porta with three pointed windows framed in terracotta. Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
🍷 Food & wine 3 🛶 Lakes 3 🏔️ Mountains 2 🏛️ UNESCO heritage 2 🏘️ Villages 1 ♨️ Spa towns 1
No events match these filters.
📅 Every year, on 11 November; co-patrons are Saint John the Baptist, Saint Anthony of Padua, Saint Julius and Saint Bartholomew
Lesa celebrates its patron Saint Martin on 11 November; the town also venerates four co-patrons, Saint John the Baptist, Saint Anthony of Padua, Saint Julius and Saint Bartholomew.
📅 Every year, on 23 November
Bellinzago Novarese celebrates Saint Clement, pope and martyr, on 23 November; the parish church dedicated to him was designed by architect Alessandro Antonelli, the same behind Turin's Mole.
📅 Every year, on 25 November
On 25 November Nibbiola celebrates its patron Saint Catherine, to whom the town's church is dedicated.
📅 Saint Catherine on 25 November, Saint Audentius on the second Monday of September
Pettenasco celebrates its patrons Saints Audentius and Catherine, to whom the parish church is dedicated; Saint Catherine on 25 November, Saint Audentius on the second Monday of September.
