The chapels of the Sacred Mount Ossuccio Como

THE CHAPELS OF THE SACRED MOUNT OSSUCCIO COMO

The chapels of the Sacred Mount that wind along the slopes that lead to the shrine were built between 1635 and 1710, thus creating a devotional path conducive to meditation on the mysteries of the Rosary. Fourteen chapels are to be found along the cobbled street that runs through the Sacred Mountain: each is dedicated to one of the mysteries and is numbered according to the canonical succession of the five joyful mysteries, followed by the five sorrowful mysteries, and then by the first four glorious mysteries. The last of the glorious mysteries (The Coronation of the Virgin) consists of a kiosk located inside the sanctuary, above the high altar. The intention of the course is to show the pilgrim scenes of the various stations, in order to arouse devotion together with the exercise of the recitation of the Rosary.

The decision to build the Sacro Monte is likely to be attributed to the initiative of the Franciscans and the local noble families. Coats of arms of noble families who contributed financially to the enterprise are visible on the front door of some chapels.

Many aspects in common with that of the Sacro Monte of Varese. The common dedication to the Rosary, the morphological similarity dates from the cobbled path flanked by low walls, the overall similarities "master plan," suggest that the Monte di Varese has been here as a model, without wishing to compete with it in terms of monumentality.

The chapels have Baroque architectural connotations, which express themselves in a variety of shapes, including rectangular plan buildings and a single hall. Singular is, in some chapels, the affixing of a porch quite extensive which incorporates the path uphill.

The decoration of the chapels, with polychrome statues in stucco and terracotta, and frescoes on the walls, saw the commitment of significant artists of the time. The Ticino Agostino Silva modeller has had the lead role in the realization of the crowd of statues (about two hundred) that populate the chapels, with figures often drawn from the life of every day, dressed in seventeenth-century clothes. It is speculated - to account for stylistic affinity - an intervention, together with Augustine, his father Francesco, one of the sculptors protagonists of the Sacro Monte of Varese. Certain however, is the presence of Gianfrancesco, son of Agostino, acting as his father's help.

Among the painters must be mentioned the aforementioned Charles Gaffney, Innocenzo Torriani and Gian Paolo Recchi. In the frescoes of the first chapel (Annunciation) and XIV chapel (Assumption of the Virgin) it was recognized the intervention of Salvatore Pozzi, who also did the frescoes that adorn the ceiling of the sanctuary.

The devotional path winds through olive groves, in an environment of great landscape value; you can enjoy at every stop the panorama of the lake, having in front of the Comacina Island. As in any Sacred Mountain, there is the effort to create harmony between architecture and landscape. Some civilian buildings that rises behind the chapel, when you put little attention to the protection of the site, have altered a little such harmony.

It has been launched in recent years, a systematic plan of decorative apparatus restoration of the chapels

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