Welcome to Locarno

15 Things Not to Miss in Locarno

1st Piazza Grande, the heart of the city with its porticoes in typically Lombard style. In August it hosts the International Film Festival. Overlooking the square are the palazzo that was once the seat of the Cantonal Government and the Town Hall.

2nd Città Vecchia (Old Town), with its ancient palazzi, wonderful courtyards and narrow alleys, is the ancient core of Locarno. Via Sant’Antonio and Via Cittadella are the two main streets. Also worth visiting is the Piazzetta delle Corporazioni.

3rd Castello Visconteo, whose first mention dates back to 998, with a 15th-century inner courtyard and richly inlaid ceilings. Today it's the Archaeological Museum, displaying precious vases and blown-glass cups and finds from the Roman era. Commemorative room of the 1925 Peace Conference. Closed from November to March.

4th Casa Rusca, an 18th-century building, once a patrician residence, today the art gallery of the City of Locarno.

5th Casa dei Canonici, or Palazzo Orelli, with a fine courtyard with a 17th-century portico. Private property, so not visitable.

6th Casorella, next to the Castello Visconteo, is a palazzo built between 1575 and 1593

7th Palazzo Morettini, built in 1703, housed from 1946 to 1976 a community of cloistered Carmelite nuns. Today it's the seat of the Locarno library.

8th Casa del Negromante, a meeting place of 16th-century nobility and a typical example of a Locarno patrician house.

9th Church of San Francesco, with a 14th-century choir and dome and a 1528 nave. Next to the church is the former 13th-century Franciscan convent with the former refectory.

10th Piazza and Church of Sant’Antonio, from the 17th century. Notable is the altar of the Dead Christ and the new liturgical altar in wood by the Tyrolean sculptors of Ortisei, from 1974.

11th Chiesa Nuova, from 1630, with 18th-century stuccoes. The facade is baroque with a monumental statue of Saint Christopher and Saints Roch and Sebastian.

12th Church of Santa Maria in Selva, a small church located in the cemetery of Locarno. Interesting are the 14th-century Gothic (Cortese) frescoes. Consecrated on 24 February 1414.

13th Church of San Vittore, a typical example of Romanesque construction, with a magnificent crypt with decorated capitals among the finest in Switzerland.

14th Church of San Quirico, a small church in baroque style (1795-1801). Precious late-Roman and Gothic frescoes. Also worth visiting is the tower, enlarged in the 1500s.

15th Sanctuary of the Madonna del Sasso, in the same place where the Virgin Mary appeared to Friar Bartolomeo d’Ivrea in 1480; in 1487 a small church was built, later enlarged. Inside the present Sanctuary are works of enormous interest. The path that leads from Locarno to the Sanctuary (a via Crucis) is rich in chapels typical of the Lombard Sacri Monti.