What is Ornavasso known for?

Quarries opposite Candoglia that supplied stone for the Milan Duomo, the Arco della Pace, and the Certosa di Pavia from the fourteenth century. Southernmost Walser language island in the Ossola, settled from the Simplon and German-speaking until the end of the nineteenth century. Base of the Valtoce division during the Republic of Ossola in 1944, the brief Allied-recognised partisan state in the upper valley.

Ornavasso is a comune in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, Piedmont region of Italy, about 79 kilometers from Novara.

Piedmont · Verbano-Cusio-Ossola

Ornavasso

A Toce-valley town, marble quarry for the Duomo di Milano and the southernmost Walser colony in the Ossola.

79 km / 49 mi

Nearest hub (Novara)

3,323

Population

Apr–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Parco Nazionale

Why come

Ornavasso sitson the Toce river, just upstream from Gravellona, at the southern threshold of the Val Grande National Park. The marble quarries above the town, on the right bank of the Ossola valley opposite the famous Candoglia, supplied stone for the Duomo di Milano from the late 1300s, and later for the Arco della Pace, the façade of the Certosa di Pavia and the Octagon of the Duomo di Pavia. Two pre-Roman necropolises dug here held Celtic and Italic tombs from between the second century BC and the first century AD. From the fifteenth century to the late 1800s the town and its frazione Migiandone formed the southernmost Walser language island in the Ossola, settled by colonists from the Simplon. The Santuario della Madonna del Boden, founded in 1530 after a miracle attributed to a local shepherdess, standsabove the centro. During the Second World War, Ornavasso was the base of the Valtoce partisan division.

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Gallery

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Known for

Santuario della Madonna del Boden
Sanctuary founded in 1530 at 475 meters above the town, devotional centre of the upper Toce since the sixteenth century.
Santuario della Madonna della Guardia
Hilltop sanctuary that housed Italian army troops and then partisans during the Republic of Ossola in autumn 1944.
Cave di marmo
Ornavasso marble quarries on the right bank of the Toce, source of stone for the Duomo di Milano and the Arco della Pace.
Necropoli celtico-italica
Two pre-Roman necropolises excavated in the commune, with tombs of the second century BC to first century AD attributed to Celtic and Italic populations.
Parco Nazionale della Val Grande
Southern gateway to the largest wilderness area in the Italian Alps, with trails into the Val Grande starting from Migiandone.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June brings the Toce down high and clean, the chestnut and beech woods on the marble slopes filling in. July and August are warm and busy with Val Grande trekkers entering through Migiandone; the centro is quieter than Lake Maggiore but the trails fill on weekends. September and October are the strongest months: clear light on the marble quarries, the Boden sanctuary backlit at dusk, and the Val Grande in its autumn copper. November through March the upper sanctuaries operate on reduced hours; fog from the Toce sits in the valley most mornings, and the marble walls go dark.