The church of Saints Gordian and Epimachus is the old parish church of Blevio: it stands in a small settlement on the shore, with the detached bell tower rising from the lakefront, and from the paved churchyard you see, on the opposite bank, Villa Erba and Villa d’Este. Since 1967 it is no longer the parish church and today hosts weddings, concerts and events.
History
Blevio is made up of seven hamlets halfway up the slope, and only a small part lies on the lake, where the church stands. Its place of worship already appears at the end of the 13th century, among the dependencies of the chapter of Como Cathedral (SIUSA); in Bishop Ninguarda’s visit, at the end of the 16th century, the parish of Saints Gordian and Epimachus counts 400 faithful, 280 of them communicants, and is in the pieve of Zezio. The visible building is from the second half of the 18th century, set on an earlier one that tradition dates to the 16th. In the second half of the 20th century, since almost all the hamlets are uphill, a new and larger church was built, and the old one was freed of parish duties (myLakeComo, Wikipedia).
What to see
The exterior is very simple: a white 18th-century facade in two orders, marked by pilasters and closed by a pediment (with a metal cross with a crown and floral motifs), a roof of Lario stone slabs and the bell tower on the right, detached from the body of the church. A plaque to the left of the portal recalls the village’s benefactors, among them Sofia Vonwiller Mylius, married to one of the first owners of Villa Cademartori.
The interior has a single nave, with a winged presbytery. Above the entrance is an organ of 1821 by the Prestinari firm of Magenta, with some 16th-century pipes, a national monument since 1983. The first bay has an elliptical covering with the Holy Spirit and the first four Doctors of the Church; the central part has an octagonal vault with a stucco Christogram. The right-hand chapel is of the Madonna of the Rosary, with a light marble altar, while the left one, in dark marbles, held a painting with the Madonna and the patron saints, now in the new church. A triumphal arch, with an inscription inviting one to approach the throne of grace with confidence, leads into the presbytery (Wikipedia).
Practical information
- Address: via IV Novembre 28, Blevio. The church is open for weddings, concerts and other cultural initiatives (myLakeComo); we found no official source for visiting hours.
- Blevio has been a holiday place for centuries, with villas such as Troubetzkoy, Mylius-Cademartori and Roccabruna: see the pages of Villa Troubetzkoy and Villa Ferranti.
Sources
- myLakeComo, Church of Saints Gordiano ed Epimaco
- SIUSA, Parrocchia dei SS. Gordiano ed Epimaco in Blevio
- Como e il suo Lago, Cosa fare e vedere a Blevio
- Wikipedia, Chiesa dei Santi Gordiano ed Epimaco (Blevio) entry.