Piemonte · Verbano-Cusio-Ossola
Ornavasso
A Toce-valley town, marble quarry for a famous Milan cathedral and the southernmost Walser colony in the Ossola.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Ornavasso is on our list.
Subscribe and you get Ornavasso's letter the day it comes out.
Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 30 min from Milan
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 3,310
- J10°
- F12°
- M14°
- A17°
- M21°
- J26°
- J28°
- A28°
- S23°
- O19°
- N13°
- D10°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Ornavasso sits on the Toce river just upstream from Gravellona, where the valley narrows toward the southern threshold of the Val Grande. The quarries worked the right bank of the Ossola valley opposite Candoglia, and their stone traveled well beyond the commune: besides the Milan cathedral, it went into the facade of the Certosa di Pavia and the Octagon of the Duomo di Pavia, a supply line running from the fourteenth century onward. The town's frazione, Migiandone, formed part of the same Walser settlement, colonists from the Simplon who kept a German dialect alive here into the late nineteenth century, longer than in any Walser community further up the Ossola.
The ground beneath the town has its own older history: two pre-Roman necropolises, Celtic and Italic, with burials spanning the second century BC to the first century AD. Above the centro, the devotional life of the upper Toce climbed the hillside, and in 1944 that same high ground sheltered soldiers and then partisans of the Valtoce division, in the brief Allied-recognised partisan state that held the upper valley that year. A quarry town, a language outpost, and a wartime redoubt turn out to be the same few square kilometers, stacked in time rather than spread across it.
How to get there
From Milan Bergamo (BGY), about 1 h 41 min by car.
Turin (TRN) is about 1 h 42 min away.
By car from the center of Brescia 2 h 4 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Milan, Turin or Genoa?
Coming by train into Milano Centrale? Ornavasso is about 1 h 14 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Milan Bergamo airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Santuario della Madonna del Boden
Sanctuary above the town, standing 475 meters over the centro, reached by a climb that has drawn devotion from the surrounding valley since it was built.
Santuario della Madonna della Guardia
Hilltop sanctuary that housed Italian army troops and then partisans during the brief Allied-recognised partisan state of autumn 1944.
Cave di marmo
Quarries on the right bank of the Toce, still legible in the rock face, the source of stone for both 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.
Living here
Could you live here?
Ornavasso is at the end of the road.
- A village of 3,310. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Gravellona Toce, is 16 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Verbania, a city of 29,953, is 20 min by car. Closer than our 30 to 60 minutes: handy for everything, so check the town still keeps a life of its own.
- A station of its own. Trains are the overlooked way to get around Italy: no parking, straight into the center.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
We measured every town in the region on these rules, by its drive to Turin, the city we moved to: Moving to Turin and Piedmont.
- Population 3,310, down 3.7% since 2015
- Nearest city Verbania, 20 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest national health service hospital Verbania, 11 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,000 to €1,400 per m² to buy, €3.40 to €4.80 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Commuter belt
- Pharmacy in town
- Nearest high school over ~30 minutes away
- Full fibre reaches 54% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 4, very low hazard
- Milan Malpensa airport (MXP), 54 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Turin, 1 h 41 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
4% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Ukraine, Morocco and Senegal, against 9% across Italy. There are 222 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 39% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Verbano-Cusio-Ossola province ranks 61st of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Verbania, 11 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Varese, 35 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Varese, 35 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Como, 55 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is European School Varese, 34 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1.02% a year in property tax, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. The town adds 0.5% to your income tax, with nothing due on income under €10,000. 7% pensioner tax: this town is not in a qualifying area.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Piemonte spends about €2,240 a month, €580 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €467 a year for water, on the Piemonte average.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone E, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from October 15 to April 15, up to 14 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. 5% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 71% in a high or medium one. 38% live in a zone rated high or very high for landslides.
These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.
Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.
Known for
DUOMO MARBLE
Quarries opposite Candoglia that supplied stone for the Duomo di Milano, the Arco della Pace, and the Certosa di Pavia from the fourteenth century.
WALSER COLONY
Southernmost Walser language island in the Ossola, settled from the Simplon and German-speaking until the end of the nineteenth century.
VALTOCE PARTISANS
Base of the Valtoce division during the Republic of Ossola in 1944, the brief Allied-recognised partisan state in the upper valley.
OSSOLANO
The commune lies inside the Ossolano DOP production zone.
Common questions
- What is Ornavasso known for?
- Ornavasso is a Toce-valley town at 215 meters, marble quarry for a famous Milan cathedral and the southernmost Walser colony in the Ossola.
- Where is Ornavasso?
- Ornavasso is a comune in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, in Piemonte.
- What is the nearest airport to Ornavasso?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Milan Malpensa (MXP), about 54 min by car.
- Can you get to Ornavasso without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Brescia to Ornavasso?
- About 2 h 4 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Ornavasso?
- Best in Apr–Oct. August is the warmest month, averaging 28 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 20 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Ornavasso?
- Neive, Castagnole delle Lanze and Candelo.
- How many people live in Ornavasso?
- 3,310 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Ornavasso a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Ornavasso is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Gravellona Toce, is 16 min away. The nearest city, Verbania, is 20 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Verbania, 11 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 54% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 215 m
- Population: 3,310
- Surface area: 25.92 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
The ranked lists
Lists Ornavasso appears in
- The best cheese towns within 90 minutes of MilanNear Milanwithin 90 mincheese zone6 towns · smallest 1,679 residents · closest 66 min away
- The 8 best towns you can reach by train in the province of Verbano-Cusio-OssolaVerbano-Cusio-Ossola provinceby train8 towns · smallest 450 residents
- The best hill towns within 90 minutes of NovaraNear Novarahill townwithin 90 min9 towns · smallest 454 residents · closest 45 min away
- The best cheese towns within two hours of TurinNear Turinwithin 2 hourscheese zone10 towns · smallest 87 residents · closest 74 min away
- The best hill towns within 90 minutes of MilanNear Milanhill townwithin 90 min10 towns · smallest 244 residents · closest 51 min away
Similar
Towns like Ornavasso
What all six share with Ornavasso: inland, away from the coast · between 3,000 and 10,000 people · hill towns
Neive
Province: Cuneo
both have a railway station in the comune
Castagnole delle Lanze
Province: Asti
both have a railway station in the comune
Candelo
Province: Biella
both have a railway station in the comune
Vitorchiano
Province: Viterbo
both have a railway station in the comune
Montecosaro
Province: Macerata
both have a railway station in the comune
Gavi
Province: Alessandria
1 h 59 min apart by road
The letter
Ornavasso is on our list. Its letter is still to come.
We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter: the photo, what is worth eating, and when to turn up. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Ornavasso comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Camogli, 189 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.