Porticato (the Portico di San Luca)

In the southwestern corner of the centro storico is the Porta Saragozza, the starting point of the portico to beat all porticoes – the Porticato, winding 4km up the Colle della Guardia to the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca, with 666 arches along the way, a kind of eccentric embellishment only possible in the Age of Baroque (not to mention quite a popular addition to the local pilgrimage trade).

It took them long enough to build it. Begun in 1674 and finished in 1793, each arch was financed by a different family, religious group, guild or other corporation, each of which set up plaques along the way, although many have vanished or resemble ghosts of their former selves.