The church of San Donnino, in via Diaz, in the old town of Como, is the church where Alessandro Volta was baptised on 19 February 1745 and where, on 7 March 1827, his funeral was held. It stands on a raised churchyard, opposite Palazzo Volpi, and is almost always closed.
History
The first written records of the church date from the end of the thirteenth century, when it was one of the churches of the pieve of Zezio. It was Romanesque and was rebuilt several times: in the fourteenth century as a two-nave church with five altars, and then in the seventeenth century, under the bishops of the Archinto family. Of the first building the base of the semicircular apse is still visible, in an alley behind the church. It was already a parish seat in 1430; today it belongs to the parish community of the basilica of San Fedele and is a reference point for the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic faithful of the area (Wikipedia). Camminacittà notes that the church is raised above the street for reasons archaeology has not yet clarified.
The church is dedicated to Saint Domninus, a soldier martyred by beheading, whose body is venerated at Fidenza. The neoclassical facade is of 1813, by Carlo Polti, a collaborator of the celebrated architect Cantoni: a pronaos with Ionic half-columns and a pediment.
What to see
Inside, the nave is single, covered by a barrel vault with stuccoes of 1937. There are four chapels, between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries: near the high altar those of the Crucifix, frescoed by Caresana between 1619 and 1620, and of the Virgin, with frescoes by the Fiamminghino; on the left side the richest, of the Volpi family, who lived in the palace opposite, with frescoes by Crespi called il Bustino and an altar of 1630; finally a chapel dedicated to Saint Anthony of Padua. At the back, in a niche of the apse, the titular saint in polychrome wood, a work of the late nineteenth century.
For those seeking Volta: near the baptismal font a plaque placed in 1945, the second centenary of his birth, gives the text of the baptism record, and on a pillar to the right of the entrance another plaque recalls Volta baptised in this church and a catechism teacher, on the eve of changing the world with the battery. Volta taught catechism in this church almost every Sunday, according to the account of Callisto Grandi reported by Camminacittà. He was baptised by the provost Moiana with the names Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio.
Practical information
- Address: via Diaz, in the walled city, a limited-traffic zone; opposite is the Pinacoteca civica in Palazzo Volpi.
- Camminacittà writes that the church is almost always closed and depends on the Parish Community of the Città murata (+39 031 267295), who can be asked for information. We found no opening hours on an official source.
- The churchyard is reached by a stair of 11 steps, which from a certain point is normally closed by a low gate; to go in there are two more steps.
- It is the third stop of the itinerary Volta’s Como. One block away is the House of Alessandro Volta; opposite, the Pinacoteca civica.
Sources
- Camminacittà, Como Percorso 6, S. Donnino record
- Oggi a Como, Le residenze di Volta and Vita di Alessandro Volta
- UPEL Italia, Luoghi comaschi di Alessandro Volta
- Wikipedia, entry Chiesa di San Donnino (Como).
