SACRO MONTE D'ORTA
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Sanctuary with 20 chapels offering a quick and very pleasant visit
The Sacro Monte d'Orta, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, stands on a wooded hill at an altitude of 400 m at the top of a promontory protected as a nature reserve. Designed by the Capuchin friar and architect Padre Cleto, the sanctuary, built between 1590 and 1760, consists of 20 chapels (and an unfinished 21st) decorated with frescoes and adorned with life-size painted terracotta statues depicting scenes from the life of Saint Francis of Assisi. They are remarkably well restored and preserved. From the church of San Nicolao, at the top, the view down to the lake is quite spectacular.
The present church is inspired in its architectural forms by the lower basilica of St Francis of Assisi, and was built in the years 1602-1607. Chapel 1 begins - logically - with the birth of St. Francis, with life-size terracotta statues built and completed around 1610. In chapel 2, we find St. Francis asking Jesus (at the crucifix) for the direction he should follow in his life. Little by little, St. Francis renounces his possessions, listens and follows the Holy Mass, invites the first disciples to pray... Chapel 12 is one of the oldest. As for chapel 14, completed in 1757, it is the last chapel built. Chapel 15 is one of the first to be completed, in 1594, and shows St. Francis receiving the stigmata on Mount Verna. Don't worry, however, the visit is quick and very pleasant in a wooded park.
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