Monte Tamaro

Santa Maria degli Angeli, completed in 1996, is the reason people come up here. Mario Botta built it on the shoulder at Alpe Foppa in local porphyry and concrete: a long ramped walkway leads out to a viewing platform, with the chapel set below and behind it, so the building is entered by descending rather than climbing, and the interior is lit through a slot with a fresco cycle by Enzo Cucchi. It was commissioned in memory of the wife of a local businessman. From the alp the ridge walk to Monte Lema runs about thirteen kilometres along the crest with views into Italy and over Lake Maggiore, taking five hours or so, with a cable car down at the far end.

What you actually see

• Botta's chapel of 1996 - porphyry and concrete, entered by descending.
• A ramped walkway - leading out to the platform over the valley.
• Cucchi's fresco cycle - the painting inside the lit slot.
• The Tamaro-Lema ridge - thirteen kilometres of crest walking to a second lift.

When to go

May to October. A day with the ridge walk.

Honest expectations

The ridge traverse is long with real ascent and needs the far-end cable car timetable checked. The alp has a restaurant and family activities that make it busy. Cloud on the crest is frequent. The chapel is small.

Nearby

Bellinzona and its castles are north; Lugano is south.