Clinging to a cliff

Back to last October and Stresa (my previous post here) from where we took a ferry across Lago Maggiore to the hermitage of Santa Caterina del Sasso, Saint Catherine of the Rock.

The hermitage is perched in the middle of a cliff clinging to it 18m above water level like a terrace carved in stone. Because of its unusual location it is only visible from the lake.

The sanctuary used to be accessible only by climbing about 60 steps from the lake or by descending a stairway of 51m or some 270 steps winding down the side of the cliff. Today, you can also take a less troublesome way to the site by an elevator that was dug into the rock a few years ago.

Needless to say, there is a singular legend behind a historical catholic shrine at such a spectacular location. According to it, a merchant by the name of Alberto Besozzi was shipwrecked in the region in the 12th century. He prayed to Saint Catherine of Alexandria – an early martyr who was one of the most popular saints in the late Middle Ages – vowing to dedicate the rest of his life to worship if he were saved. A wave washed him to a rock and he fulfilled his promise living the rest of his life at the location as a hermit.

Alberto had a simple chapel built to Saint Catherine. After his death in 1205, people continued to visit the place for prayer. The monastery with two more chapels – Santa Maria Nova and San Nicola – was built in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. The first residents were Dominicans, followed by more than 350 years of Ambrosians and finally Carmelites until the last brothers had to leave under suppression in 1770.

All through the following century, the hermitage was abandoned and almost lost to ruins until it was declared a national monument in 1914. Its current owners, the Lombardian Province of Varese, finally opened it to the public in 1986 after a period of extensive restoration.

The present church is a unique merger of the three chapels that were built separately at different times with traces of each one visible inside. Most of the interior, however, is in 16th and 17th-century baroque style, which was surprising to us. We were expecting something simpler and more down-to-earth at a secluded hermitage.

The church is rich in frescoes spanning from the 14th to the 19th century. There are also several frescoes visible on the exterior under the porticoes as well as some fascinating paintings, fragments of frescoes and ornamental murals in the so-called fireplace hall of the southern convent. Those were more pleasing to our eye than the rather confusing interior of the sanctuary, I must confess.

However, nothing could ever beat the spectacular location anyway. Compared with the natural beauty outside, the inside of the church is just too much to take in. You are bound to return to the courtyard sooner rather than later to admire the magnificent setting and the panoramic lake views. They will outbalance everything else there is to see at the hermitage for sure. Bellissimi!

Today, Benedictine oblates are managing this monument and the monastery shop located at the top of the cliff. Holy Mass is being held on Sundays and holidays at 4:30pm. More information including the opening hours under this link.

Hit the brakes, dear! (2)

It seems my Piedmontese tour is not getting off the ground so I’m posting one more Italian appetizer, although not related to Piedmont. A few years ago in April, we were driving northward from the town of Lucca following the river Serchio towards the valley of Garfagnana in northwestern Tuscany. Suddenly this view opened up before our eyes.

This is Ponte della Maddalena near the small town of Borgo a Mazzano. Just like many other ancient bridges in Italy, it is also called Ponte del Diavolo. This striking example of medieval engineering dates back to the 12th century its largest span measuring 37.8m. It has been renovated several times over the centuries. Some one hundred years ago, an arch was added to make space for the riverfront railroad.

I am so lucky hubby is always rather gracious at hitting the brakes at my request. This historical monument is far too fabulous to have been left unrecorded, don’t you think?

Hit the brakes, dear! (1) under this link.

Passing a fortress

While waiting for the winter to arrive – not that we would like the colder weather but the days might be a bit brighter and lighter with some snow – we have been trying to keep ourselves active in our attempt to postpone the inevitable hibernation phase as much as possible. The other day we took a trip to Tallinn.

I made sure to book tickets on the Viking Line ferry using the Katajanokka port in downtown Helsinki. It was raining of course but I could just about stand the cold wind on the side deck and take a few photos of the small islands off Helsinki and of the nearby Suomenlinna fortress islands.

The Naval Academy.

The Fortress of Suomenlinna is a unique monument of military architecture and a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site. The bastion fortress was built in the late 18th century and served as a garrison until the early 1970s. Since then six kilometres of walls and some 200 buildings have been restored.

Suomenlinna is one of Finland’s most popular sights with more than 700,000 annual visits. It is also a district of Helsinki and home to some 850 people. However, there are only 13 private buildings on the islands. Instead, there are 330 state-owned apartments, about 100 of which are reserved for the defense administration. The remaining 200 are leased through a special application procedure based on neither social grounds nor a waiting list.

Needless to say, there will be an apartment available only extremely rarely. And even when there is one you must be fabulously lucky to possess the kind of a profile the community is looking for at that particular moment. I can’t imagine anyone having been chosen as a tenant would want to leave this picturesque village only a 15-minute ferry ride away from downtown Helsinki. I certainly wouldn’t.

PS Last autumn we travelled to Tallinn two months earlier returning at sunset. See my post on that here.

A few of the private ones, I assume. More than a dream come true, a jackpot I'd say.