Numerous artifacts were found in the area to testify the presence of human settlements in Arona since the Bronze Age. After the Celtic domination, Arona became a key trading passageway of the Roman Empire, witnessed by the remains of a furnace and of a Benedictine abbey. During the Renaissance the town was subjected to the struggles of domination by European families, ending up under the Savoy’s domination in 1815. Arona overlooks the Lago Maggiore and is surrounded by a crown of mountains and hills. From the historic centre, Piazza del Popolo surely deserves a visit, where you can admire the late Gothic Church of Santa Maria del Loreto and Palazzo Broletto, a fourteenth-century courthouse. Another interesting place is the square of San Graziano, recently renovated, that offers the access to a stairway leading to the Church of S.S. Martiri.