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Church of Saint Audenzio and Caterina
Located on the outskirts of town, the church was built in 1778 on the remains of an ancient Romanesque chapel dating from the 12th century. The church was dedicated to St Audenzio, prefect of the area and a friend of St Jules, the saint who evangelised the Riviera ( St Jules came in the 4th century from the Greek island of Egina, to fight against the Arian heresy). To the north side of the church stands the Romanesque bell tower, of a primitive and medieval design; is one of the oldest opposite the shores of the lake.
The bell tower is of rubble masonry with quoins at the corners, and features narrow windows in the lower stories and gemel windows in the upper stories. The church is flanked by another bell tower, from 1792. The single-nave interior contains interesting paintings, notably an Adoration of the Shepherds by G. Cesare Procaccini.

At the top of Motta hill, is set the church of St Maria Assunta, built in 1485 and reconstructed in the second half of the 18th century. The original Late-Romanesque structure is adorned with 17th and 18th century paintings by Rossetti, Cantalupi, and Orgiazzi. In the Gemelli chapel hangs noteworthy canvas by Procaccini, depicting St Charles Borromeo at the Procession for the Plague of Milan, one among the most important examples of Lombard painting in the early 17th century. The façade, built to designs by Carlo Nigra, features a 17th-century vestibule with coupled colonnettes.

The construction started in 1590, on the site of the ancient church of St Nicolao, dating from the Middle Ages and containing a venerated image of the Madonna della Pietà. The Sacro Monte of Orta was erected by Amico Canobio, with the aim of celebrating the life of St Francis. The complex extends on a hill (at an altitude of about 400m) on the peninsula where the town of Orta also stands. It is a peaceful spot, and was chosen for its enchanting lanscape, suggesting prayer and meditation. Carlo Bascapè, bishop of Novara and feudal lord of the Riviera d’Orta, greatly contributed to the construction. He personally conceived and supervised the religious aspects of the project, infusing a strong didacticism, particularly evident in the detailed representation the life of St Francis. The visit to the chapels enables to appreciate the development of architectural and artistic models over the centuries. The more ancient chapels are simple and decorated with frescoes and terracotta sculptures representing the saint’s life. In the 17th century, the Baroque style, more emphatic, has clearly affected the figures in the chapels XVII, XIX and XX; the influence of the Rococo taste is reflected in the soft pastel colors of some other chapels decorated by Stefano Maria Legnani. The Cappella Nuova is an example of the Neo-classical style. Many artists from Milan worked at the Sacro Monte during the supervision by Bascapè, including Morazzone, Prestinari, Giovanni d’Enrico, Giovanni Battista and Giovanni Mauro della Rovere.

In a scenic position on the road from Vacciago to Ameno, the Sanctuary stands on the remains of a small church which was built in the 16th century in memory of an apparition of the Virgin. The modern building, started in 1754 and finished in 1834-43, has a typical neoclassic structure: in the interior there are a quatrefoil plan with a choir and an imposing white marble high altar. Here, there’s a collection of various “miracles” attributed to the Virgin.