Emozioni a 360° tra i patrimoni del Mendrisiotto Mendrisio

Via Luigi Lavizzari
6850 Mendrisio Ticino
Svizzera

www.mendrisiottoturismo.ch/

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Emozioni a 360° tra i patrimoni del Mendrisiotto Mendrisio

SCOPRI IL MENDRISIOTTO
Dalle montagne al clima tipicamente Mediterraneo: vieni nel Mendrisiotto e Basso Ceresio a scoprire una meta dalle mille personalità. Visita questo angolo inaspettato di Svizzera ricco di tesori da svelare. In pochi chilometri passerai dalle panoramiche vette alle dolci colline ricoperte di vigneti. Non avrai che l’imbarazzo della scelta!

DETAILS

  • Church of san sisini... ... (Area)

    When following the narrow road from Palazzo Pollini to the hill in Torre, we come to the church of Santi Sisinio, Martirio e Alessandro, possibly built at the same time as the lookout fortifications that line the local access roads leading to the otherwise undocumented Lombard settlement. The construction, which has never been properly investigated, ought to conserve Romanesque traces, as mention is made of a lost bell tower dating to 1213. Recorded as the vice-parish church of the noble Torriani and Bosia families from 1304 onwards, it housed the first Servite monastery between 1450 and 1477. The main altar featured a beautiful early 16th-century polyptych by Bernardino Luini until its sale in 1793, when it was replaced by the current altarpiece by Giovan Battista Bagutti. The existing building, which underwent progressive changes between the late 18th century and mid-19th century, has a single aisle with two side chapels, rising perceptibly towards the upper presbytery, which is followed by a small choir. Francesco Catenazzi and Abbondio Bagutti painted scenes from the lives of the saints to which it is dedicated along the nave, illustrating the academic Neoclassical style of 1816. The choir conserves works of varying provenance: an 18th-century nativity scene purchased by the Torriani family in Munich in 1856, the large altarpiece by Francesco Torriani with the Martyrdom of St Ursula (1645) from the demolished parish church, a Mary Immaculate by Vimercati from Milan and the painted altar covering with St Charles from the chapel devoted to St Charles in the filial church of Santa Maria Nascente in the village of Mendrisio.

  • Church of santa mari... ... (Area)

    The small church of Santa Maria stands in the oldest part of central Mendrisio (built partly over a Roman villa, the remains of which were discovered in the churchyard in 1911 and investigated further in 2002 and 2014). All that remains of the original Romanesque building is the bell tower, raised in the 17th-century, and perhaps the two parallel aisles (with the one on the right being used as an “oratory”). The church was reoriented towards the end of the 16th century with the construction of the current apse, decorated with beautiful paintings in the style of Morazzone, including the altarpiece with the Nativity of Mary. The nave features a barrel-vaulted ceiling divided into three spans and was decorated with paintings by Angelo Sala from Milan in 1848. The chapel devoted to St Charles Borromeo was built in 1656 and features a terracotta statue of the saint, created by Agostino Silva in 1663, above the marble altar. The elliptical dome in the Roman style was frescoed with illusionistic motifs by Giovanni Battista Bagutti towards the end of the 18th century. On the western side is a 17th-century wooden statue of Our Lady of Sorrows in Tears, perhaps associated with the tradition of placing the “Tomb” here during Holy Week.

  • Church of san vigili... ... (Area)

    This small church stands in an isolated position, on a panoramic outcrop to the west of the town. Dating to the first half of the 11th century and possibly built over an earlier religious structure, it is one of the most interesting examples of Romanesque architecture in the Sottoceneri area. The external wall features small tripartite arches, interspersed by lesenes that form an irregular but harmonious pattern. On the southern side is a small arched stone portal with four niches, possibly pertaining to a small pre-millennium building. The interior was stripped bare during the restoration work in 1949, revealing the very simple structure. The apse is decorated throughout with dynamic and expressive frescoes from the first half of the 13th century, which show many parallels with the work of the master active in Sant’Ambrogio Vecchio in Cademario, but are far removed from the sophisticated elegance of the Byzantine art in the baptistery of its mother church in Riva San Vitale.

  • Church of santa mari... ... (Area)

    The sanctuary was erected following a miracle that took place in 1594 (illustrated in the window from 1900) and replaced the older parish church of San Giorgio, outside the settlement. It was built between 1595 and 1613 and has a single aisle with an oval dome (with tholobate) and four side chapels dedicated to Our Lady of Miracles, St Joseph, St Charles and Sts Peter and Paul. Several of the best-known artists from Lombardy and Ticino working between the 17th and 18th century left their mark on the church, from the Silva family of architects, sculptors and stucco workers from Morbio, to the Torriani family from Mendrisio, Isidoro Bianchi from Campione, Filippo Abbiati from Milan, Recchi and Gaffuri from Como, Pozzi from Valsolda and, lastly, Petrini from Carona, who painted two beautiful canvases in 1726. The lavish and finely decorated chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Miracles houses a late Gothic fresco of the miraculous image.

  • Church of san pietro... ... (Area)

    The very simple church of San Pietro, better known as the Chiesa Rossa or “Red Church”, perches on a rocky outcrop overlooking the River Breggia and linked to an important ancient castle that gave the village its name. Its red colouring was fairly commonplace in isolated churches in the past and it is one of the few examples that can still be seen today. However, 19th-century romanticism associated it with the bloody legend of a massacre that took place here in 1390 between two families of political rivals. It is certainly important because of the rarity and quality of its relatively well-preserved Gothic paintings, mostly produced in 1343‒45 by the “Master of Sant’Abbondio in Como” and featuring stories from the life of St Peter, while the geometric decorations that embellished all the walls in the main body of the church are almost unique today. The façade features a copy of the bas-relief in the church, depicting the bishop of Como, Bonifacio da Modena, who was behind the rebuilding and decoration of the church in 1343. Extracted from the wall during the restoration work in 1979, the back revealed intertwined decoration from the Carolingian period (9th century), suggesting that the marble originally came from the church of Sant’Abbondio in Como.

  • Church of san carpof... ... (Area)

    The church of San Carpoforo, first documented in 1148, stands at the southern end of the settlement. A castle, recorded in 1054, once stood nearby, although no trace of it remains today. The late mediaeval building was first renovated between the late 16th and early 17th century, when the side chapels were added. It underwent a complete transformation in the late 17th century, in which the Tencalla family from Bissone played a fundamental role, both as benefactors and as managers and decorators. The façade, created between 1759 and 1784, is divided into three parts by pillars with a tympanum crowned by statues. The late mediaeval bell tower with its octagonal top stands on the northern side, at the height of the choir. The three-aisle interior preserves its rich decorations added between 1680 and 1688, with stuccowork on the ceiling that frames numerous theological frescoes: Victory of the Cross, Prayer of the Lamb, Angels Playing Music. It stands out for having preserved the original colour of some of the stuccowork, which has been removed or toned down elsewhere, as well as the fine sculptural polyptychs on the main altar and in the two side chapels.

  • Baptistery of riva s... ... (Area)

    This is the oldest fully preserved religious building still surviving in Switzerland. It was restored throughout in 1953‒55 by Ferdinando Reggiori. Dedicated to St John the Baptist and probably built over the foundations of a Roman structure (villa or bath house), it offers a significant example of 6th-century early Christian architecture. The square-plan building is completed on the east side by an apse that slightly postdates the initial phase. Inside it features an octagonal layout, with rectangular and semi-circular niches. In the middle of the floor, part of which is still original, is the large Romanesque monolithic font installed over the octagonal early Christian brick font. The painterly decoration comprises Romanesque and late Romanesque (but also later) frescoes, some of which are very fine with complex iconography, featuring the Life of Christ from the Nativity to the Crucifixion, with a niche devoted to the Last Judgement. The apse stands out for the very rare image of the living, hairless Christ on a T-shaped cross, dating to the start of the year 1000, while the partial figure on the left of the blessed Manfredo Settala, a hermit on Monte San Giorgio, dates to the Gothic period.

  • Museo d’arte sacra (Area)

    This museum of religious art is housed in a historical stately home on the edge of the village of Meride. It is home to an archive and a library, a room for temporary exhibitions featuring artists (or themes) linked with the village and much of the ancient ecclesiastical furnishings no longer used or displayed in the local churches.

  • Church of san silves... ... (Area)

    The church of San Silvestro is in Meride, on the slopes of Monte San Giorgio. Like many others built inside or above one of the many castles that fortified the route between Lakes Como and Lugano since ancient times, it was certainly built on top of a Romanesque structure, of which some traces remain, such as the capitals with bas-reliefs (perhaps dating to the 13th century) that support the columns of the portico added in the 19th century. It was a parish church in 1483, before being extended and modernised with three aisles with groin-vaulted ceilings and Renaissance columns, preserving the ancient choir. Here, towards 1690, the local artist Francesco Antonio Giorgioli painted frescoes of various episodes from the lives of Pope Sylvester and Emperor Constantine. The carved and painted pulpit dates to 1595, while other interesting artworks, such as the statues and side altars, are from the 17th century.

  • Church of san giovan... ... (Area)

    This church in the Rococo style, designed by Giovan Pietro Magni, was built between 1722 and 1729 almost entirely by local artists. It was constructed for the adjacent Servite (Servants of Mary) monastery, yet despite this, the local community once again strove to raise the necessary funds, even working on Sundays. Inside, the brightly lit single aisle features elegant stuccowork dating to 1724‒27. The first chapel on the left houses a prestigious work from the earlier church that occupied the site: the altarpiece by Francesco Innocenzo Torriani, depicting the Madonna and Child Appearing to St Roch (left) and St Sebastian (right). In 1774, Giovanni Battista Bagutti frescoed four medallions on the ceiling of the nave and apse. Still in the Baroque style, the characters portrayed in these paintings convey intense feelings through their eloquent poses and appear monumental thanks to their billowing drapes. The colours are graded to evoke the ascent to the heavens: darker at the bottom and lighter towards the top. These medallions are surrounded by a trompe-l'oeil architectural framework (painted by the Brenni brothers), which demonstrates a certain knowledge and awareness of the more modern Neoclassical style. The side altars and the ovals feature paintings purchased by the friars via their confreres in Lombardy and Emilia, including the two small canvases by Ignazio Stern, completing the series of the Seven Sorrows of Mary, painted by Domenico Pozzi from Castel San Pietro in 1769. The presbytery (designed by the architect Paolo Soratini from Lonato) houses a noteworthy front (reassembled by Raina in 1729 using elements from the early 17th-century version), while the choir gallery is home to the first altarpiece by Giuseppe Carpani, painted in 1577, flanked by two small canvases by Torriani the elder, and the niche created in 1774 is occupied by the “clothed” statue of Our Lady of Sorrows, which has featured in the historical Good Friday procession since at least 1747.

  • Church of san martin... ... (Area)

    To the north-west of the town, near the motorway (overlapping the Roman and then Lombard road), stands the church of San Martino, first documented in 962, but certainly predating this, as demonstrated by the archaeological excavations carried out in Mendrisio in 1963, which uncovered the remains of three earlier churches beneath the current 12/13th-century Romanesque church, the oldest of which had two apses and was possibly Carolingian (a manhole provides access to the excavations). The Lombard Romanesque-style nave decorated with small blind arches has been preserved intact, while the rectangular choir, together with the other parts, dates to the Baroque period, as do the paintings housed therein, including the beautiful polyptych by Francesco Torriani. The painted wooden group with St Martin on Horseback, dating to the early 17th century, is also of very fine quality, as is the figured antependium, originally from the village’s old parish church. During the Feast of St Martin, the traditional festival of the same name is held immediately outside the church and is still very popular today. The small church is open to the public for the whole day to mark the festivities.

  • Hermitage of san nic... ... (Area)

    At 700 metres above sea level, directly above Mendrisio’s wineries, is the small church and Hermitage of San Nicolao. A mediaeval legend has it that on certain nights a light used to be seen shining here on this cliff (hence its name “Monte della Stella” or “Star Mountain”), where in 1413 a bishop from Como found an ancient image of Mary (only partially preserved) and ordered an oratory to be built around it. Extended at different times over the centuries, it now houses three 18th-century altars with beautiful stuccowork and an altarpiece with St Michael (1699) by Innocenzo Torriani. The first hermit to live here seems to have been a friar from Umbria called Benedetto Agnoselli, who was succeeded by many others right up until 1809, including some from illustrious families from Mendrisio and Lombardy. Today the Confraternity of Santa Maria Liberatrice looks after the little church and the hermitage, where a place of refreshment was first established in the early 20th century, going on to become a popular grotto.

  • Museo del trasparent... ... (Area)

    Casa Croci, a 19th-century architectural gem, houses the Museo del “Trasparente”. This is the first exhibition space devoted to one of the region’s most extraordinary artistic and historical legacies: an age-old tradition that led the Confederation to put forward the Historical Processions during Holy week as a candidate for the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List. “Trasparenti” are illuminated nocturnal paintings used to embellish the ancient town along the route of the Maundy Thursday and Good Friday Processions. For the local people they represent an integral part of a much-loved folk tradition that has changed very little over the years. These paintings proffer a unique example of the Enlightenment culture combined with the Baroque tradition. They are temporary apparatus of great communicative efficacy, made using an exceptional modern technique. The new museum in Casa Croci provides an opportunity to observe these wonderful objects close-up, to learn about how they are made and to find out more about the various different types.

  • Church of santa croc... ... (Area)

    The church of Santa Croce offers a beautiful and almost unique example of late Renaissance architecture in Switzerland. It was built between 1580 and 1594 and its painted decorations were completed by the time it was consecrated in 1599.Its central plan, which rises vertically up to the octagonal tholobate supporting a dome with a slender lantern, is typically Mannerist in style, designed by the architect Giovanni Antonio Piotti of Vacallo, who worked in Como and Milan. Its interior houses lavish classical-style stuccowork and frescoes, including some of secular subjects (landscapes and grotesques) in the niches between the chapels marked out by huge Doric columns made from faux marble, which make the building seem to be lacking in walls. The finely worked flooring with inlaid polychrome stone and marble arranged in geometric patterns features the symbols of the Passion of Christ in the centre, as the church was originally intended for the tombs of the Della Croce family, including Bernardino, bishop of Como. The chapels are embellished with a highly prestigious cycle of canvases from the Milanese workshop of Camillo Procaccini, author of the two large scenes adjacent to the main altar featuring the Dream of Constantine and the Discovery of the True Cross. In 2010, ten small canvases by Gaspare Mola (who also produced the magnificent carved wooden doors) that decorated the sumptuous wooden side altars were stolen. The balustrades and holy water stoups are made from Arzo “marble”, like many other artefacts in religious buildings in the area.

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Marcello Speziali

2017-11-01
L'interno è magnifico, da visitare assolutamente!

Francesco Gaffuri

2017-11-01
Meraviglioso :)