Holiday Apartment in Pettenasco: Lake, Crafts and Festivals

Holiday apartment in Pettenasco between crafts and church art

The Museo dell’Arte della Tornitura del Legno is housed in a former woodturning workshop belonging to the Maulini family, which operated from 1886 to 1970. The historic workshop room still contains the gears and lathes that the family used for woodworking. They still function thanks to a large wooden wheel powered by the Roggia Molinara. This means that Pettenasco preserves not only the memory of a historic craft tradition: the driving energy for the woodturning workshop was obtained from the Torrente Pescone and the Roggia Molinara.

The Church of Saints Audenzio and Caterina also provides a distinct cultural highlight. Its single-nave interior contains paintings of the mystic marriage of Saint Caterina, Saint Carlo in a procession with the relic of the Holy Nail, the martyrdom of Saints Quirico and Giulitta, and the Nativity. There are also four side altars. They are dedicated to the Holy Cross, Madonna del Rosario, Saints Julius and Audenzio, and Saint Anthony Abbot and Saint Anthony of Padua.

Festivals with processions, the lake and regional sweets

The festival dates add further special occasions to Pettenasco’s annual calendar. The patronal festival is celebrated on the last Sunday in November with a procession and the sale of the biscuits “le ruote di Santa Caterina”. The Madonna del Rosario festival takes place on the second Sunday in September. This event includes processions, a floating fire on the lake and a traditional confectionery fair. For planning your trip, these two Sundays can therefore provide a different focus from a stay centered on craft history or trails by the lake.

Trails on Lake Orta and specific places by the water

Two different routes through Pettenasco’s thematic landscape are suitable for active days. The “La Riviera di Pettenasco” cycle route begins near the parish church of Santa Caterina and shortly afterwards passes the Museo dell’Arte della Tornitura del Legno. The “Grand Tour del Lago d'Orta” route follows the Pescone to Pettenasco and then continues towards Crabbia along a panoramic trail with views of the lake. Different route lengths and trail characteristics help you coordinate your daily plans between cycling, scenery and orientation around the lake.

From March to October, the public boat service operates daily on Lake Orta. At the mouth of the Pescone where it flows into the lake, there is also a small free public beach without facilities, with a sandy surface and shallow water. On Via Per Armeno, Località Paganetto is marked as an equipped picnic area. At the southern end of the lakeside promenade is the installation “Vers l’autre côté”, which is also known as “Fionda”.

When choosing a holiday apartment in Pettenasco, you can therefore first decide which aspect should define your stay: the preserved mechanics of the woodturning workshop, the church’s paintings and side altars, the September or November festivals, a cycle tour, a panoramic trail by the lake or the specific places by the water. The combination of culture, festivals and landscape allows for different daily rhythms without prescribing a single travel itinerary.

More places for planning your trip

For further orientation, you can also include Veruno, Auzate, Maggiora, Sillavengo, Lesa, Case Sparse, Barengo and Lagna.

For the overall travel overview: Novara.