A wonderful way to combine recreation with culture is to hike to some of the many Alpine pilgrimage chapels. Clustered together in beautiful rural settings, these shrines are decorated with highly realistic tableaux vivants whose purpose was to narrate biblical stories to the often illiterate faithful as they proceeded from one shelter to the next. Today many of these shrines can be reached by car, but the fun is in leaving the modern world behind and going on foot through fields, past waterfalls, up steep mountain trails or along the shores of a lake, just as pilgrims have done for centuries. On Sundays you may find crowds; if possible, go during the week.
•Varese: Drive five miles north of town to Sacro Monte; leave the car and climb the hill to the 14 sanctuaries, where sculptures and frescoes illustrate the Mysteries of the Rosaries.
•Biella: The Sanctuary of Oropa is the most commercialized, yet its setting amongst waterfalls and snow-capped mountain vistas is spectacular.
•Orta San Giulio: From Piazza Motta, drive up the hill to Sacro Monte, then leave the car and walk to the chapels, embellished with frescoes and terra cotta statues that tell the life story of St. Francis. The spot overlooks a peaceful lake.
•Varallo: The Church of the Madonna of Loreto was the first of these shrines. The decorations in its 44 chapels are the most realistic, sometimes to a fault.
•Castelseprio: The rough brick chapel of Santa Maria Foris Porta has frescoes that date from the 7th to 9th centuries and are probably Byzantine.
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