A walk through the old town leads to the Piazza Grande, a square surrounded by picturesque houses and arcades. Each year in August, the square turns into a large open-air cinema to host the famous international film festival at Locarno. At Piazza St. Antonio, a patrician dwelling, the Casa Rustica, is home to the Locarno art museum, the Pinacoteca. The Castello Visconteo is only a few steps away. This castle used to belong to the well-known Visconti family of Milan before it was turned into the Museo civico e archeologico.
At Orselina, the pilgrimage church Madonna del Sasso with its Capuchin monastery is towering high above Locarno. It enjoys a spectacular view of the town beneath and the Lago Maggiore and is built at the very site at which the Virgin Mary appeared to the Franciscan monch, Bartolomeo d'Ivrea. The monastery's museum hosts a remarkable collection of sacred art.
The church of Madonna del Sasso can be reached by road, the Via ai Monti della Trinità, or by a cable railway departing from Via Ramogna near the Locarno train station.

From MySwitzerland.com

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