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Locals call him Carlone, (big Carlo, pronounced Car-low-nayh), and for over 200 years his statue, on a hilltop in Arona, Piemonte, was the tallest statue in the world. The metal structure was constructed in the 1600s to honor Carlo Borromeo, nephew of Pope Pius IV and a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Carlone boasts some pretty impressive statistics. He’s 115 feet tall, his arm is 30 feet long, and his thumb measures 4.5 feet. Note the size of the telescopes on the platform for a sense of his true scale.
This was also, until the Statue of Liberty was installed in New York Harbor in 1885, the tallest enterable monument in the world. The bronze and copper body is built over a hollow concrete core. It’s still possible to climb up inside today, by way of a series of steep iron and wooden stairs, to reach the windows in Carlo’s eyes and ears and look out over Lago Maggiore.
Carlo Borromeo lived from 1538 to 1584, and this statue was meant to be part of a large complex of buildings celebrating his life; but ultimately, only three chapels were constructed. Arona also has a smaller version of the statue on Corso Cavour, affectionately called (what else?) …Carlino, (little Carlo). However, when in Arona, most people just want to go to see the big guy.
– Contributed by Dana Kaplan, (see bio), freelance writer, proofreader, and copyeditor. Author of StresaSights, a great blog about a beautiful town.
Wow. That’s amazing! Italian notebook is full of fascinating notes! I learn something new every day.
Facinating. I wish we had know of this while we were living in
Verona. I love climing around in things like this. Thanks
I actually climbed this statue when I was there. I have relatives who live across the the lake in Ranco. My father told me that “Big Carlie” was wearing a hat which blew off during a violent wind storm and ended up in Lago Maggiore. I always wanted to ask Jacques Cousteau to go look for it. Who knows, he might have found it. Ripley’s Believe It Or Not column years ago had a picture of four card tables set up on the hat and men playing cards. If you ever get there climb the statue. A little precarious but fun.