Attractions and Places To See around Montecrestese - Top 20

Saint Francis of Assisi, whose 800th anniversary of death we celebrate this year, describes our Christian life with the words of the Apostle Peter: he reminds us that we are called to »follow in the footsteps of Christ, who called his betrayer friend and voluntarily handed himself over to his crucifiers« (cf. NbR XXII, 2; cf. 1 Pt 2:21). The Poverello encourages us to fix our gaze on Jesus: »Let us all, brothers, pay attention to the Good Shepherd, who, to save his sheep, suffered the torment of the cross« (Erm VI). Therefore, on this Way of the Cross, let us accept Saint Francis' invitation to follow in Jesus' footsteps, not just ritually or intellectually, but with our whole being and our whole life: »Offer yourselves in body and carry his holy cross and follow his most holy commandments to the end« (Off XV 13). (from the introduction to the Way of the Cross meditation with the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, in the Roman Colosseum on April 3, 2026)

Worth the visit, the hike, and the trip. A unique monument, definitely worth a visit with plenty of time.

From a Celtic and Roman sanctuary to the Matarella fortress and a Capuchin monastery, this spiritual place tells an amazing story.

In 1656, two Capuchins chose the hill of Colle Mattarella, above Domodosso, to make it a place of pilgrimage. Twelve chapels were built, each with a statue or fresco depicting the Stations of the Cross, with an additional chapel depicting the Resurrection of Christ. At the top of Colle Mattarella stands the octagonal Sanctuary of the Holy Cross, the construction of which began in 1657. In the park of the Sacro Monte di Domodossola are the remains of the Mattarella Castle, destroyed in 1415 by Swiss soldiers who wanted to conquer the Ossola Valley and take it from the Duchy of Milan. In 1656, two Capuchins from the Domodossola monastery, Father Gioacchino from Cassano and Father Andrea from Rho, decided to have Stations of the Cross built on the slopes of Colle Mattarella, leading to a church dedicated to the Holy Cross. It was planned to gradually replace the crosses with chapels for the individual Stations of the Cross. Bishop Guido Maria Odescalchi commissioned the legal scholar Giovanni Matteo Capis to coordinate the project and named the hill Monte Calvario ("Calvary"), as the places of worship of the Sacri Monti ("holy mountains") were intended to symbolize the sites in the Holy Land that many pilgrims could not or could no longer reach. The construction work and the technical implementation were entrusted to the architect Tomaso Lazzaro from the Val d'Intelvi. The foundation stone for the pilgrimage site was laid on July 8, 1657, and in March 1662 the first Holy Mass was celebrated at the altar on which a crucifix by Dionigi Bussola had just been erected. A great benefactor and financier of the project was Kaspar Stockalper, a merchant, notary and governor from the Valais who was forced into exile in Domodossola, directly on Monte Calvario, where his figure embodies St. Gaspar, one of the Three Kings, in the 15th chapel of the Sacro Monte. The project to build the chapels was completed in the course of the 18th century; their furnishings have been constantly restored or renewed since then; the most recent statues, from 1957, are carved in wood. Source and further information: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacro_Monte_di_Domodossola

The city of Roman origin lies on the Toce in the center of the Val Ossolane (Ossola Valley) on the route from the Simplon Pass to Lake Maggiore, in a valley widening into which various side valleys flow, on a large alluvial fan that the Bogna, the right tributary of the Toce, has created here. Today, Domodossola has 17,684 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2022). As the (formerly) largest Italian city whose name begins with "D", Domodossola is used in Italian spelling tables for this letter ("D come Domodossola"). Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domodossola In addition to the weekly market on Saturday, the Sacro Monte di Domodossola is particularly worth visiting. It is part of the Sacri Monti. The Sacri Monti in Piedmont and Lombardy have been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site in northern Italy since 2003. Finally, you should enjoy the Italian flair in the town. In summer, be sure to eat an ice cream or stop off at a café or pizzeria, it's worth it.

There is a feeling of abrupt detachment when we enter what seems to be the mysterious door to the very heart of the mountain: almost suddenly we pass from a gentle, sunny and verdant landscape to a space of shadow where rare rays of sun struggle to penetrate, grazing the walls like blades of light, we pass from the heat to the cool-humid where only mosses and lichens manage to thrive and develop. We walk easily on the flat and dry bottom, created by the deposits of the streams, large irregularly rounded cavities alternate with narrow passages and above our heads dizzying walls seem at times to almost join together leaving only narrow openings towards the sky. Some metal ladders make the climb easier.

Architecture At the center of the Romanesque stone façade of the monumental Church of San Gaudenzio stands the portal, surmounted by a rose window and flanked by the large fresco of San Cristoforo, painted in 1542. At the entrance, the breadth of the basilica church is highlighted, with five naves, divided by four series of different columns and characterized by a markedly sloping floor, composed of slabs of serizzo. The difference in height between the beginning of the nave and the base of the steps of the presbytery is about 90 centimeters. The side naves are made up of ten splendidly frescoed transepts; in addition to the imposing ciborium of the main altar, seven side altars dedicated respectively to: San Rocco, San Giovanni Battista, Santa Vittoria, the Blessed Virgin Mary, San Pietro, Sant'Antonio Abate and San Carlo Borromeo enrich the Church of San Gaudenzio. The oldest and most artistically valuable part of the building is the Chapel of the Madonna (now of the Rosary), built in 1326; it is located in the nave to the right of the altar, and its wonderful frescoes are dedicated to the life of Mary. In the presbytery, on the right, there is the large Crucifixion (1542), a work by Antonio Zanetti known as Bugnate, below the figures of Adam and Eve, while on the barrel vault the seven-headed dragon of the Apocalypse is depicted; the transept of the presbytery is enclosed by three arches finely frescoed with prophets and sibyls. At the end of the eastern nave you can admire the sixteenth-century Baptistery consisting of a pedestal in white Crevoladossola marble surmounted by a wooden ciborium containing the baptismal font. To the west of the church in 1628 the chapel of the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament was erected, today used as a winter chapel and intended to guard the Blessed Sacrament. The bell tower from 1522, 50 meters high, the 'new' sacristy and the wooden choir behind the high altar, dating back to the end of the 17th century. The architecture of the church is completed by the beautiful organ of Swiss-Valais manufacture by the organ builders Carlent and Walpen dating back to the first half of the 19th century.

MONUMENTAL CHURCH OF SAN GAUDENZIO IN BACENO ** TIMES FOR VISITING THE CHURCH From Monday to Saturday: morning, from 09.00 to 12.00 afternoon, from 15.00 to 17.30 Sunday and holidays: morning, from 09.00 to 10.15 afternoon, from 14.30 to 17.15 For group visits with a guide, arrange by calling 0324 / 62045 – (Elena, Albergo Vecchio Scarpone, tel. 0324 62023 for booking guided tours). BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CHURCH The first documents that testify to the existence of a primitive chapel date back to the early 1000s. In fact, Bascapè, bishop of Novara from 1593 to 1615, in his book "Novaria Sacra", highlights a document about the existence in Baceno of a "cappellam" donated to the canons of S. Maria di Novara by Gualberto, bishop of Novara from 1032 to 1039. The rectangular chapel was located where the presbytery is currently located. Built in Lombard Romanesque, it was dedicated to S. Gaudenzio, the first bishop of Novara (337-417). The first expansion dates back to between the 12th and 13th centuries. Since there was not enough space, the orientation was changed, north-south, building the part that is now the central nave (including the two aisles) and the Romanesque façade between the two pilasters. In 1326, where the access to the original chapel was located, the cleric Signebaldo de Baceno son of Giacomo erected the chapel of the Madonna. As Christianity spread more and more among the people of Antigorio, the need was felt for a new expansion and embellishment of the church with the addition of the current side naves. The occasion was given in 1486 by the marriage of Bernardino de Baceno, imperial vassal of Antigorio and Formazza, with the noblewoman Ludovica Trivulzio, daughter of Antonio Trivulzio, representative of the Duke of Milan in Ossola. Towards the end of the 15th century, work began on the construction of the side naves, thus highlighting the Gothic style, and at the same time the frescoes were painted, which were completed only in 1542 with the large Crucifixion on the right wall of the presbytery. Starting from the last decade of the 16th century, as a consequence of the new norms dictated by the Council of Trent, the interior of the church was subjected to new interventions that significantly modified its structure, with the consequent result that the Baroque was added to the Romanesque and Gothic.