The church in the forest on the lake

We are going back towards Italy. We pass the Engadina, between lakes and mountains, up to Maloja mountain Pass, where we immerse ourselves in the fog, then we go down in a tangle of hairpin turns. Alessandro and Marco get stuck behind an exceptional load transport that descends from Maloja three kilometers per hour: two trucks are carrying downstream a huge transformer for power plants and they are doing the curves of the hairpin turns so precisely and slowly. We pass the convoy and we go towards Chiavenna. We descend going down by inertia to Lake Como. We ride along the right side to see the island of Comacina.

We arrive at the campsite, near the lake, overlooking the Ossuccio Sanctuary. The Van Mac is parked under very thick lime trees and we are moving towards the Holy Mountain.

To get there we go uphill on a wide pavement that winds looking at Lake Como and the island of Comacina. The building of the shrine is perched on a terrace of a wooded slope at about 500 meters of altitude, surrounded by olive trees and acacias. From below, the path seems steep and difficult, but we get on top easily because we often stop to admire the many sculptures dating back to the 17th century, they are preserved in 14 chapels dedicated to the devotional path. Once on the top we freshen up in the shadows of the church’s nave. The baroque style of the marbles and the stucco capitals are surprising. From the outside you wouldn’t think that a so modest and simple building may contain such a decorative richness.

The Sacred Mountains (Monti Sacri) were built since 1400 in Italy to ensure that believers could have pilgrimage routes safer than the routes towards the Holy Land. Their common feature was to be built in particularly isolated places surrounded by nature. During the Counter-reform they assumed another function. Many Sacred Mountains were built throughout southern Alps to form a sort of ideological barrier to oppose the Protestants from the North.

Outside the church we chat with a couple, Roberta and Ivano. They lead us along the paths of the mountain to discover new views, then they invite us to their house that is just below the shrine, among paved streets between old stone walls. On a little terrace they give us beer, wine, salami, roasted almonds and garbanzos and they tell us about their vision of that little corner of Lake Como. We don’t hesitate and we help ourselves. After the generous appetizer they take us to visit the town and the small pier; outside the church of St Andrea, dating back to the 11th century, they show us the four macabre human skulls exposed on a side window. We go together to the campsite where we warmly greet and wish good luck to each other. We are also looking for this: the places, but also the people; the past but also the present.

The following morning, after a hot breakfast, at 7,45 a.m. we move with our filming equipments to the shrine, where Father Elia is waiting for us. We climb again the paved path, looking through the windows of the chapels to see the statues and the paintings dedicated to the Mysteries of the Virgin Mary. We reach the church, sweating, inside we meet the old monk who looks after the sanctuary. Father Elia, speaking softly, explains us the history of the sanctuary, it has been built and then expanded where, according to tradition, was found the statue of the Virgin Mary. The statue gave the grace to a deaf-mute and then it was transported in town but a few years later, miraculously, it returned on the hill.

Father Elia greets us and goes back to his commitments, he gives us the opportunity to keep on filming and taking photographs. While Alessandro and Marco continue with the camera I sit down thinking about the secular magic of this place, conceived by those who built it as a passage door between substance and infinite.

We go back in town, after eating and arranging dishes and clothes, we make friends with the owners of the camp, they are dealing with the construction of the website. In the evening they offer us some coffee and we talk about the visit of the day, the beautiful Lake Como and the journey ahead of us.

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