What is Cannobio known for?

Around 300 stalls along the lakefront every Sunday morning, drawing visitors by boat from Locarno and Ascona across the lake. Sixteenth-century pilgrimage church built on the site where in 1522 an image of the Virgin was said to have bled. Narrow gorge of the Cannobino 4 km inland, with the Romanesque church of Sant'Anna above and pools used for swimming in summer.

Cannobio is a comune in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, Piedmont region of Italy, about 100 kilometers from Novara.

Piedmont · Verbano-Cusio-Ossola

Cannobio

A medieval lake townon Maggiore's western shore, host to one of the largest Sunday markets on the lake.

100 km / 62 mi

Nearest hub (Novara)

5,003

Population

Apr–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Cannobio sitson the western shore of Lago Maggiore where the Cannobino river meets the lake, five kilometers from the Swiss border. Roman sarcophagi from the second and third centuries have been found in town; the first written record dates to 909. In the Middle Ages, Cannobio ran a wool and tanning industry and a lumber trade, and the Mazzarditi pirates briefly held it in 1403 from their islet base off Cannero. The Santuario della Santissima Pietà rises on the lakefront, built in the sixteenth century on the spot where in 1522 an image of the Virgin was said to have bled and where the town claimed to have been spared from the plague that followed. Every Sunday around 300 stalls line the entire lungolago from the piazza to the Santuario, drawing visitors by boat from Locarno and Ascona on the Swiss side. The Orrido di Sant'Anna, four kilometers inland, is a narrow gorge with a Romanesque church above it.

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Gallery

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Known for

Santuario della Santissima Pietà
Sixteenth-century pilgrimage church on the lakefront, built on the site of a 1522 Marian apparition and plague-survival miracle.
Sunday market
Around 300 stalls along the entire lakefront promenade every Sunday from 08:00 to 15:00; one of the largest markets on Lago Maggiore.
Piazza Vittorio Emanuele III
Main lakefront piazza, lined with pastel arcaded houses dating to the medieval and early-modern town.
Orrido di Sant'Anna
Narrow gorge cut by the Cannobino river 4 km inland, with a fifteenth-century Romanesque church of Sant'Anna above.
Palazzo della Ragione
Medieval communal palace also known as Palazzo del Parlamento, the seat of Cannobio's autonomy under the Borromeo.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June brings the lake gardens into bloom and the Sunday market back to full size. September and October hold warm water and a long shoulder of clear light over the Swiss shore. July and August fill the lungolago with Swiss day-trippers from Locarno and Ascona; the medieval lanes behind the lakefront stay cool through midday. November through March is quiet. Many hotels close, the market shrinks to a third of its summer size, and the Santuario della Pietà rising above the empty quay is the photograph people come back for. The Orrido di Sant'Anna runs full in spring snowmelt.