Patron saint festival In 295 days
Feast of Our Lady of the Snows
📅 Every year, on 5 August
On 5 August Susa celebrates Our Lady of the Snows, in the town where the Arch of Augustus and the cathedral of San Giusto stand a few steps apart.
Susa lies at the centre of its valley, where the Cenischia joins the Dora Riparia and the valley forks. It has been a crossroads for millennia: the routes to the Mont Cenis, the Colle Clapier and the Montgenèvre pass through, as did the Via Francigena. In Roman times it was Segusium, from the Gallic root sego, strong, and it was the capital of the Cottian kingdom.
The Romans wanted safe passage towards Gaul here and secured it by a pact of alliance: the Arch of Augustus was raised by king Cottius, son of Donnus, between 9 and 8 BC. In 312 Constantine's troops besieged and burned the town. There remain the arch, the Porta Savoia, the arena and the Roman walls, the cathedral of San Giusto and the castle of countess Adelaide.
The Susa guide
What to see 5
cattedrale di San Giusto · Arco di Augusto · Museo diocesano d'arte sacra (Susa) and 2 more
Where to stay 20
20 places to stay · top rated: Chalet Sul Lago Hotel In Montagna 9.8 · Corte Gelsomino 9.8
Events & festivals 1
Next up: Feast of Our Lady of the Snows, Thursday 5 August
Getting there
Nearest airport: Torino Caselle, 48 km away
Tours, tickets and experiences
Bookable on GetYourGuideExperiences in Susa
🎉 Festivals and feasts in Susa 1
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What to see in Susa
cattedrale di San Giusto A Benedictine abbey from 1027 and a cathedral only from 1772, built against Susa's Roman gate. 
Arco di Augusto The arch king Cottius dedicated to Augustus, naming the fourteen peoples under his command. 
Museo diocesano d'arte sacra (Susa) The museum holding the triptych carried to the summit of the Rocciamelone in 1358 and left there. 
castello della Contessa Adelaide The castle of Adelaide of Susa, built where the Romans had the governor's palace. 
Forte della Brunetta The citadel cut into the rock above Susa that never fired a shot, demolished on Napoleon's order. Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
Near Susa
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Places to see within 25 km
Outside Susa, but an easy day trip away.
chiesa di San Donato 📍 Massimino · 9.3 km The parish church of San Donato in the hamlet of San Vincenzo, baroque, built between 1818 and 1820. monastero di Santo Stefano 📍 Millesimo · 14 km Baroque church and fifteenth-century cloister, Cistercian until 1802, now inside a private castle. castello di Millesimo 📍 Millesimo · 15 km Dismantled in 1553 so the French could not take it, the thirteenth-century keep is open again. Castello di Cairo Montenotte 📍 Cairo Montenotte · 20 km The ruins of the Del Carretto castle above Cairo Montenotte, in the upper Bormida valley. Ferrania Film Museum 📍 Cairo Montenotte · 20 km Six themed rooms in Palazzo Scarampi for the plant that made Ferrania a name in world cinema. castello di Dego 📍 Dego · 24 km Ruins at Cua, above the Val Bormida, and a Napoleonic path that climbs up to them.