In 146 days Patron saint festival
13 March 2027
Saturday 13 March
Arona has not one patron but four, and celebrates them together on 13 March: the martyr saints Gratian, Felinus, Carpophorus and Fidelis.
It is a late-winter feast on Lake Maggiore, before the season brings back the boats and the visitors to the San Carlone, the copper colossus that watches the town from the hill.
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📅 Every year, between late July and early August
Four days of concerts, markets and installations along the lakefront, closed by the LUMINA pyromusical show.
Places to see before or after the feast. All 6 places in Arona →
A copper statue 35 metres tall, blessed in 1698: you can climb inside it, right up into the saint's head.
A former abbey church of 979: a Bergognone altarpiece of 1488 and relics displayed every 13 March.
Only fragments remain of the fortress where Carlo Borromeo was born in 1538, dismantled by the French in 1800.
The Sacro Monte that was never finished: of fifteen planned chapels only three were built, and the colossus remained.
Colosso di san Carlo Borromeo · chiesa dei Santi Gratiniano e Felino · Rocca di Arona and 3 more
24 places to stay · top rated: Cavaedium Guest House 9.5 · FWL Italian Romance on the Lake 9.4
Next up: Feast of the holy martyrs, Saturday 13 March
Nearest airport: Milano Malpensa, 19 km away
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
