The hermitage of Santa Caterina del Sasso told by the OfficeNow business center.
Our search for unique places to visit in the province of Varese continues.
After having illustrated the archaeological excavations of Castelseprio, the village with strong Tuscan characteristics of Castiglione Olona and the journey along the climb of the Sacred Mount of Varese, today the OfficeNow business center takes you to discover the hermitage of Santa Caterina del Sasso.
Its history is almost incredible and is almost a thousand years long!
The name of the place alone should raise some questions: why 'del sasso'?
The story goes that Alberto Besozzi from Arolo, following a vow made, decides to start his life as a hermit inside a cave in Sasso BÃ llaro.
This 'stone' is located along the shores of Lake Maggiore, in the province of Varese, and in the beginning there was only the cave into which our founding hermit moved.
A few years after his transfer, a plague makes its appearance and the population of Arolo turns, worried, to the pious hermit.
The construction of the shrine
Alberto Besozzi then invokes grace from Santa Caterina and asks, in exchange, that a shrine be erected.
This must be as similar as possible to the one found on Mount Sinai and which houses the mortal remains of the Saint.
After the death of the blessed, the pilgrimage of people who go to the chapel of Santa Caterina, where he was buried, increases.
The requests for grace and salvation are growing more and more. So much so that in 1270 a noble family from Ispra decided to build the chapel of Santa Maria Nova to fulfill a vow they had made.
Recognition as a national monument
After centuries of life, thanks to the presence of different, but never numerous friars belonging to the rule of Sant'Agostino and aggregated to the hermits of S. Ambrogio ad Nemus of Milan, it is only in 1914 that the hermitage of Santa Caterina del Sasso was named national monument.
The conditions of the place, never truly renovated and now with many centuries behind it, are rather decadent. This is why in 1970 the architect Ferdinando Reggiori was commissioned to proceed with a consolidation and restoration project.
Unfortunately, a chronic lack of funds and a new landslide caused the works to be interrupted and never completed.
The long-awaited restoration
Finally in 1986, following an impressive restoration and safety work on the rocks that overlook the hermitage and which support it, Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini consecrates the Sasso BÃ llaro monastery again.
The current complex is made up of three distinct nuclei: the southern convent, the small convent and the church.
To access the structure, the population of Leggiuno created, towards the end of 1500, a steep path made up of 267 steps.
Along the staircase you can see the beauty of Lake Maggiore and the mountains that surround it.
Once you reach the end of the path, you cross the old Carmelite vegetable garden covered by a splendid pergola, enriched by a very fragrant wisteria plant.
Leaving the vegetable garden behind, you cross a long and evocative loggia punctuated by six granite columns.
This loggia runs alongside what, again in 1500, were accommodations created to host pilgrims.
At the end of the loggia a marble plaque appears before our eyes with the following inscription:
'RESTORED FROM WOOD AND STONE AND FROM NEARLY COLLAPSING BY FR JULIUS CAESAR MARTIGNONIUM OF THIS BUILDING BEFORE IN THE YEAR 1624 IN THE MONTH OF JUNE'
'In other times made of wood and almost fallen into ruin, it was restored by the prior of this temple between Giulio Cesare Martignoni in June 1624'
From here you reach the southern convent which seems to have developed around what is now called the chapter house.
The Chapter Hall
The chapter house is a Gothic room from the early 14th century which was originally covered with a cross vault similar to that of San Nicolao.
Inside, a marble fireplace with the Carmelite coat of arms and the remains of a large fourteenth-century crucifixion stand out.
On the wall to the right of the entrance, a fresco from 1439 stands out which depicts Saint Eligius healing the broken knee of a horse.
Next to the Saint we find Sant'Antonio Abate, patron saint of animals, with the characteristic stick equipped with a bellflower which, with fire and the inseparable pig.
In the southern convent there was also the monastic refectory.
The first appointment with Santa Caterina del Sasso stops here.
Just as the hermit needed tranquility to meditate and pray, you too need concentration to work and, among the many types of office in the OfficeNow business center, you will surely find the one suited to your needs.
Continue to follow us to advance on the journey and discovery of such a particular and unique Hermitage!