Oropa Sanctuary

Oropa lies at about twelve hundred metres above Biella and is the largest Marian sanctuary in the Alps, a walled complex of courtyards, cloisters and lodging built up from the thirteenth century onward with rooms enough for several thousand pilgrims, most of them still used as accommodation. The Ancient Basilica holds a dark wooden statue of the Virgin, the colour of which comes from the wood and its age; it is crowned again every hundred years in a ceremony held since 1620, most recently in 2021, a year late because of the pandemic. A newer domed basilica stands above. The Sacro Monte with its chapels is UNESCO-listed.

What to look for

• The pilgrim quarters - courtyards of rooms built for thousands of visitors.
• The dark statue - a wooden Virgin crowned once each century.
• The two basilicas - the ancient church and the later domed one.
• The Sacro Monte - chapels on the slope, part of the UNESCO listing.

When to go

May to October; the road is high and can be snowbound in winter, though the sanctuary stays open. The centenary crowning falls once every hundred years.

Practical notes

It is a working pilgrimage site with religious rather than tourist priorities. The complex is austere and largely bare. The cable car above runs seasonally.

Nearby

Biella lies below; the Valsesia is west over the mountains.