The church of the Holy Martyrs, which people in Arona also call San Graziano, is what remains of a tenth-century abbey. It was founded by count Amizone, an official of emperor Otto I: to make amends for an ecclesiastical censure that followed the disorder caused by his troops, he built a monastery, finished in 979, and had the relics of the martyrs Gratinianus and Felinus brought here.
What to see
Nothing survives of the original abbey church: the present one was rebuilt from the foundations and inaugurated on 2 June 1489, with work still under way. Inside is the altarpiece of the Enthroned Madonna among saints, painted in 1488 by Ambrogio Bergognone, and the high altar with the four Arona saints carved by Policleto de Luonibus. The baroque façade and the two extra bays were added by the Jesuits, who held the church from 1572.
Visiting
The relics of Saints Fidelis and Carpophorus are kept in a side chapel and displayed every 13 March. That date has a story behind it: in the sixteenth century Carlo Borromeo decided to move the relics to Milan, but protests by the people of Arona forced him to give them back, and the return took place on 13 March 1576. In Arona the day is still called the Tredicino.
Our editors' tip
If you happen to be here on 13 March you have the right day: it is the patronal feast, and it comes from a tug of war the town won against its own most illustrious saint.