The Colossus of San Carlo Borromeo, also known to the people of Arona as Sancarlone, with its 35 meters in height, is among the tallest statues in the world that can be visited from the inside. Second only to the Statue of Liberty, from its summit, it is possible to see the lake and the landscape using the holes in the eyes, nostrils, ears, or through the openings on the back.

It stands on a hill not far from the center of Arona and is one of the symbols of the Piedmontese shore of Lake Maggiore.

The Colossus, whose construction was completed in 1698, rests on a pedestal of granite of 11.70 meters and relies on a supporting structure made of blocks of stone from Angera, to which an iron support has been attached. On this support, hammered copper plates are fixed with nails and tie rods.

The statue, designed by Giovan Battista Crespi, known as "il Cerano," by Siro Zanella, and Bernardo Falconi, represents the saint standing, with the robe reaching down to the feet with a rochet and a mozzetta, while blessing the city of Arona and its citizens with the right hand, while holding a volume close to the body with the left arm.

The work, commissioned by Federico Borromeo, was created to honor his cousin Carlo, the Archbishop of Milan, who was born in the Rocca of Arona in 1538 and was declared a saint on November 1, 1610, by Pope Paul V.