The church of San Michele Arcangelo is the parish church of Colonno, on the edge of the village’s only square facing the lake. It has a sober, late neoclassical design and was rebuilt in 1877, but it has Romanesque origins: the old bell tower and some fragments of frescoes recall them.
History
The regional record dates the present building to 1877 and, according to Wikipedia, in that year the church was pulled down and rebuilt, and afterwards enriched with paintings by Luigi Morgari. Before it there was a Romanesque oratory: again according to Wikipedia, in the 14th century it was a single room with frescoes in the presbytery vault, it was mentioned by Bishop Ninguarda in 1593 and enlarged in the late 17th century with a side chapel. The present bell tower is of 1945 and stands beside an older tower, probably Romanesque.
The diocesan archives record San Michele as a parish for the first time in 1788, when it had 230 parishioners; the village belonged to the pieve of Isola. At the end of the 19th century the parish had grown to 630 inhabitants and had the confraternities of the Blessed Sacrament and of the Madonna del Carmine; within its bounds stood the oratory of San Rocco, on the mountain.
What to see
The hall is single, with two chapels at the sides, and the walls carry mural paintings. In the ceiling the archangel strikes down Satan, a scene that returns in the high altarpiece. In a room behind the altar fragments of frescoes of the 14th and 15th centuries are kept, which bear witness to the earlier church (the tourist sites speak of the 15th century, the Greenway site of both centuries).
Practical information
- The church is on piazza Giovanni XXIII, in Colonno.
- We found no official source for opening hours: it is best to ask the parish of Colonno.
- Colonno is the start of the Lake Como Greenway: the road that runs down to the square passes close to the church.
Sources
- Lombardia Beni Culturali, Chiesa di S. Michele Arcangelo (record CO260-00132)
- SIUSA, Parrocchia di S. Michele Arcangelo in Colonno
- Greenway del Lago di Como, Il borgo di Colonno
- myLakeComo, Church of San Michele Arcangelo
- Lago di Como, Colonno
- Wikipedia, Chiesa di San Michele Arcangelo (Colonno) entry.