The “Santuario del Soccorso” in Ossuccio: an UNESCO Heritage site

It is about half an hour from our Hotel Located in Moltrasio, but if you are going to visit the Sanctuary of the “Madonna del Soccorso” (Sanctuary of Relief) in Ossuccio, a stage that we always recommend to our guests, you are going to think you are catapulted into a completely different dimension, almost out of reality.

The “Santuario del Soccorso” and its sacred mountain has been recognized in 2003 by UNESCO World Heritage, together with the Sacred Mountains of Piedmont and Lombardy. An important recognition that already lets understand the artistic and historical peculiarities that encloses this place. The first construction work dates back to 1635 by the will of the Franciscan Friars and the some noble families of that time (some of them also represented in paintings inside the shrine itself).

To reach the “Santuario del Soccorso” you have to walk through a cobbled street (a distance of approximately 1 km that takes less than half an hour with a leisurely pace). The exclusive use of the avenue for those on foot, the vegetation of the surrounding woods, fields and olive trees, the Lake Como’s view, give to this walk a very special intensity: the spirituality of this place vibrates  even thanks to the silence that envelops all.

The path leading to the “Santuario del Soccorso” has 14 beautiful chapels (also built between 1635 and 1710) representing 14 mysteries of the Rosary. Everyone of them has its representation with paintings and statues in stucco and terracotta, created in 1: 1 (some have been recently renovated). A total of two hundred and thirty statues are present and for some of them it was possible to also define its artistic heritage, as in the case of Agostino Silva and the frescoes of Carlo Gaffuri , Innocenzo Torriani and Gian Paolo Recchi. The forms of the chapels vary between rectangular baroque and a central plan chapels, but what is interesting is that there aren’t simple niche placed at the side of the road, but they are extended along the avenue and for all its length, so as to create a link between the patch, the road and the various niches.

The “Santuario del Soccorso” was inhabited until a few years ago by the Capuchin Friars who have recently left it. Now the responsibility of the Sanctuary is passed directly under the Como Diocese, who made it a spiritual and shelter place for those who want to spend days of reflection, and personal and vocational discernment.

Ossuccio is a town that is located about 25 Km from Como, in the municipality of Tremezzo, and it is on front of the Comacina Island (here we had already talked about it here) on the left bank of Lake Como. It is easily accessible along the main road Regina, by boats or with the buses, but only by car you can get to the parking places near the fourth chapel. From there you have to continue by foot.

You can not reach by car the Sanctuary, the service is carried out only on request only for old or disabled people. More info: http://santuariosoccorso.blogspot.it/p/blog-page_24.html

The excursion to the  “Santuario del Soccorso” can be done easily in half a day and in every season. It really gives peace and serenity: a stage that you have to do if you want to savor and to enjoy all the wonders that our area offers.

I, Armando and all the staff would be happy to welcome you back in the evening to our La Veranda Restaurant in Moltrasio, to end your day with a fantastic typical lariat gastronomic speciality!