Two Chapels on the Trail Lake Como Italy BW

by Joan Carroll

Title

Two Chapels on the Trail Lake Como Italy BW

Artist

Joan Carroll

Medium

Photograph - Photography And Digital Art

Description

It was a miserable rainy and chilly day in Varenna in the Lake Como area of Italy, not much fun for a hike but even less fun to sit in one’s lodgings! So we opted for a ferry trip to Lenno on the western side of Lake Como, a stop for gelato (of course) and a short walk up the hillside to a church at 400 m altitude called the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Soccorso of Ossuccio. About a kilometer below the Sanctuary, the avenue of the chapels begins, along which are 14 baroque temples which enclose scenes representing the ‘mysteries of the rosary’ (the 15th mystery is depicted in sanctuary ). Each chapel is decorated in stucco with life size terracotta statues and frescoes. The chapels, built between 1635 and 1710, are true masterpieces of the stuccoworkers of the intelvese school, and represent a singular ethnographic and folkloristic documentation of those centuries. As a result, the complex was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2003. In the photo, the chapel on the right is translated from Italian as ‘Jesus Goes to Calvary’ while the one in the distance is dedicated to the Crucifixion. The chapels were built as a bulwark to protect the Catholic land near to the borders against the advance of Protestantism. They are designed to represent the experience of making a pilgrimage to the Hold Land. As a sad commentary on modern life, the chapels are not open (or perhaps they are open a few days a year?) but the dark interiors can be viewed through screens. On a sunny day, you are treated along the climb to beautiful views of Lake Como.

Joan carroll, churches, chapel, church, path, pathway, catholic

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May 24th, 2019

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Viewed 1,393 Times  -  Last Visitor from Wilmington, DE on 04/18/2024 at 4:59 AM

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