Off The Beaten Track Italy

Italy has plenty of churches that impress. The Sacri Monti do something subtler. They invite you to walk. Step by step, chapel by chapel, they turn landscape into a slow narrative that can bring the mind back to perspective.

The best-known group is the nine UNESCO-listed “Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy”, created between the late fifteenth and early eighteenth centuries: Varallo, Orta, Crea, Varese, Oropa, Ossuccio, Ghiffa, Domodossola and Belmonte.

But the wider Italian tradition does not stop at nine. Other Sacro Monte style complexes and Via Crucis routes use the same formula: nature, art, and a defined path that makes contemplation easy to start. Here are fourteen notable places to know, with the Sacro Monte above Lago d’Orta as the anchor.

Sacro Monte di Orta, the one that stays with you

The Sacro Monte di Orta sits on a wooded promontory above the lake, looking across to Isola San Giulio. It is made up of twenty chapels, all dedicated to the life of St Francis of Assisi, arranged along a gentle route that rewards lingering.

What makes Orta special is its balance. You are close to the village below, yet the trees and the spacing between chapels create separation. Each chapel is a deliberate pause point, combining sculpture and painting to pull your attention back to detail and meaning.

It is also wonderfully human-scale. You can walk it comfortably and still feel you have earned the view. The setting encourages quiet rituals: sit for five minutes, watch the light shift on the lake, then walk on without needing to “achieve” anything.

If you want to use the walk as a thinking tool, arrive early and carry one question you are wrestling with, a growth decision, a partnership doubt, a people issue. Stop briefly at each chapel and write one line: what is the decision really about, and what would “good” look like in twelve months. By the viewpoint over the island, the answer often feels less complicated.

The other thirteen to add to your map

From the UNESCO nine, consider pairing Orta with:

• Varese, where a 2 km “Via Sacra” climbs past fourteen chapels towards the sanctuary.
• Ossuccio on Lake Como, with fourteen chapels rising through vegetation and olive groves.
• Varallo, the earliest and most ambitious “New Jerusalem” concept in the group.
• Crea, Oropa, Ghiffa, Domodossola and Belmonte, each different in tone and landscape, but built around the same disciplined idea: a route that slows you down.

Then widen beyond the UNESCO site to complete the fourteen:

1. Sacro Monte di San Carlo (Arona), created to honour St Charles Borromeo, near the colossal Sancarlone statue.
2. Sacro Monte di San Vivaldo (Montaione, Tuscany), often called the “Jerusalem of Tuscany”, with chapels scattered through woodland.
3. Sacro Monte di Laino Borgo (Calabria), known locally as the Santuario delle Cappelle, with multiple small chapels in a hillside setting.
4. Sacro Monte di Graglia (Piedmont), a sanctuary complex conceived as part of the Sacri Monti tradition.
5. The Via Crucis Sanctuary at Cerveno (Lombardy), a stepped corridor with fourteen stations and dramatic life-size sculptural groups.

Why these walks matter

A Sacro Monte is, in modern terms, a designed thinking space. The uphill rhythm slows you down, the repeated pauses create mental room, and the blend of story and landscape keeps you present. If you are building an Italian itinerary and want a day that genuinely resets your head, start with Orta, walk slowly, and let the next decision arrive at its own pace.