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Basilica of Santo Stefano (Canzo)

Triangolo Lariano

Canzo →

The «Gésa granda» of Canzo, that is the church of Santo Stefano Protomartire, dominates the centre of the village on a balconied churchyard. It is a Baroque building built between 1728 and 1752 in place of an older church; the title of basilica comes from Cardinal Pozzobonelli, who consecrated it in 1752.

History

The church of Santo Stefano appears among the dependencies of the pieve of Incino as early as the 13th century (a chapel, according to the Lombardy tourism site) and the «capella» of Canzo is still cited in 1398 among those of the plebato. It became a parish in 1569, during the visit of Francesco Bernardino Cermenati. In 1584, with the transfer of the pieve seat to Villincino, the parish was placed under the vicar forane of Erba. At the visit of 1752 the parishioners numbered 1,215, of whom 850 communicants, and the oratories of San Miro, San Donato and San Michele arcangelo, at the Lazzaretto, depended on the parish; between 1779 and 1780 the souls were 1,383, in 1898 2,100.

The Baroque rebuilding had a long preparation. According to the Lombardy tourism site, in 1697 the parish priest Pellizzoni began collecting funds, to which wealthy families such as the Tentorio (wool makers), the Masciadri, the Meda, the Pellizzoni, the Della Torre and the Sacchi contributed; the foundation stone was laid in 1728. In 1752 Cardinal Giuseppe Pozzobonelli consecrated the church and, struck by its size, entitled it «basilica». Wikipedia specifies that the title is traditional and that the building is not a basilica in the strict sense. On 21 April 1899 Leo XIII raised the church to a provostship, and from 1906 to 1971 Canzo was the seat of a vicariate forane with jurisdiction over Caslino d’Erba, Castelmarte, Corneno, Galliano, Longone and Proserpio. It is told that the ground was a vineyard owned by the Pelliccioni family, given to the parish on condition that in a single night the whole population uprooted its vines.

What to see

The façade has a Baroque layout with concave and convex lines and a tall cornice that breaks the Corinthian pilasters. Below are three entrances: the central portal has a rich curved pediment, the two side ones triangular pediments. Above, a polychrome window and two niches with the statues of Santo Stefano and San Miro (early 20th century according to Wikipedia), then an elliptical pediment with an iron cross. The bell tower, on the right according to Wikipedia and on the west side for UPEL, is 19th-century, with a bronze roof. Giuseppe Bovara’s project of 1818 envisaged two.

The interior is a single nave, with four chapels and three bays marked by pilasters. Three marble statues by Elia Vincenzo Buzzi, placed between 1761 and 1767, represent the Madonna of the Rosary, Saint Bernard of Menthon and Saint Anthony Abbot: Buzzi is also known for the two statues of the transepts of Milan Cathedral. In the chapel of the Crucifix is a large wooden crucifix, which UPEL dates to the 16th century and which the tourist site says has real hair; the phrase describing its size is by Saint Charles Borromeo, at the visit of 1574 («Habet ecclesia crocifixum valde magnum sculptum»). The Lombardy tourism site speaks instead of a visit by Cardinal Borromeo in 1779, when neither Charles (died 1584) nor Federico (died 1631) was alive: Wikipedia refers the phrase to Saint Charles’s visit of 1574.

The vault of the nave shows the Ordination of Saint Stephen, Jesus walking on the water and the Martyrdom of Saint Stephen; the presbytery vault, the Glory of Saint Stephen and the Trinity, surrounded by sails with the four evangelists. For Wikipedia the frescoes of the presbytery vault are 18th-century, while most of the others are early 20th-century. The high altar, in polychrome marbles, is by Nunzio Taragni; at the sides of the presbytery are two old pulpits.

The organ is by the Serassi brothers of Bergamo, of 1828, with 1,510 pipes according to the tourist site, and masters such as Spinelli, Bassi, Tagliavini and Parodi have played it. In December 2024 the parish organised a benefit concert to fund the recovery works on the instrument. In a chapel to the left of the altar are kept many relics left as a bequest by the provost monsignor Camillo Fino; the tourist site also recalls the relics of Saint Charles, among them a «pocket», brought to light by a priest about ten years ago.

In front of the church is the Società Operaia di Mutuo Soccorso, which today hosts exhibitions, and to one side the old market portico, with five arches, with the iron rings used to tie animals at the livestock fair of san Stevenin on 27 December. Behind the portico, in via Risorgimento, a plaque marks the birthplace of Filippo Turati.

Practical information

  • The church is at via Chiesa 38 (so the Lombardy tourism site; the regional record and Wikipedia write piazza Chiesa), in Canzo.
  • We found no official source for opening hours: it is best to ask the parish of Canzo.
  • See also the town of Canzo.

Sources

On the map

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