Madonna del Sasso

The pilgrimage sanctuary of Madonna del Sasso sits on a wooded crag 350 metres above Locarno, reached by a short funicular or a fifteen-minute walk up a Via Crucis path lined with chapels. The church is the brown-and-cream Baroque building you see in every photograph of Lake Maggiore, perched dramatically above the town with the lake glittering below.

Inside, the decoration is richer than the exterior suggests — coloured marble, gilded altars, and several significant paintings. The terrace in front of the church gives one of the best views of Lake Maggiore and the delta of the Maggia River. It is worth timing a visit for the evening, when the light turns golden over the lake and the town below quiets down.

things to do sight
A story
The sanctuary was founded in 1480 after a Franciscan friar reported a vision of the Virgin Mary on the rock above Locarno. The original chapel grew into a full church over the following century, and it became one of the most important Marian pilgrimage sites in Switzerland. The painting "The Flight into Egypt" by Bramantino hangs inside — an unexpected masterpiece in a small mountain shrine.