The name of the village Crisiae appears in Roman times and, finally, in 1330 it becomes Cressa. From the thirteenth to the eighteenth century, powerful noble families took turns, including the Borromeos, who linked the fate of Cressa and its agricultural and productive activities to the maintenance of the Isola Bella on Lake Maggiore. In 1918 the Borromeos sold the entire territory to the industrial banker J. De Fernex who developed mulberry-sericulture until the financial collapse in 1929, resulting in the sale of his properties to local families. From that moment Cressa developed as an agricultural and industrial center thanks to the presence of the railway. Evidence of agricultural activity is the ancient Borromeo farm close to the historic center, a valuable architectural complex that has retained its original charm. Of historical-artistic importance is the Romanesque oratory of S. Giulio from the century. XI, outside the town, where only part of the pre-existing pictorial cycle and frescoes from the sixteenth century are visible. Among the sacred buildings: the parish church of SS. Giulio e Amatore dating back to 1504 in the center of the town; the church dedicated to the Beata Vergine Immacolata (known as the Church of San Rocco) and the church of the Madonna delle Grazie, formerly a small chapel called the Beata Vergine della Bettola, both dating back to the 17th century; then the church of S. Eurosia near the farmhouse of the same name on the hill and the church of S. Antonino with medieval features. The opera Pia Giacobini dates back to 1705. Since 2010, in the old restored cellar of the former town hall, the Silkworm Museum has been home to educational workshops aimed at children