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Oratory of San Fedelino (Sorico)

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The oratory of San Fedelino, also called the tempietto, is a tiny Romanesque church on the west bank of the Mera, just before the river opens into Lake Mezzola, in the territory of Sorico. It was built in the 10th century where, according to tradition, the relics of Saint Fedele were found, and it belongs to the parish of Novate Mezzola, in the province of Sondrio.

History

Fedele is said to have been a Roman soldier converted to Christianity and killed at the time of Maximian’s persecutions. The sources date his martyrdom differently: to 284 the Valchiavenna tourist consortium, to 286 the regional record, around 303 Le Vie del Viandante. Where his tomb lay a first church is said to have risen, later destroyed by the barbarians. In 964 it was the Como bishop Ubaldo who went up there to collect the relics and move them into the city, to the church that was dedicated to Saint Euphemia and is today the basilica of San Fedele. A legend, reported by a hiking guide, says that a woman of Gordona saw the burial place in a dream.

According to the regional record, between 964 and 973 the renewal of the oratory began, so its structure goes back to the 10th century; the frescoes of the apse would be slightly later, of the 11th. The building was then forgotten for centuries, partly because of its isolated position. Between 1624 and 1627 the Spaniards used it as a small fort; Le Vie del Viandante adds that it was also an animal shelter and that the stonecutters of the nearby granite quarries used it as a store and kitchen (in the 18th century per the regional record).

The 20th century began with studies of Lombard Romanesque. A committee promoted by don Pietro Buzzetti obtained a first restoration in 1905, designed by the architect Luigi Perrone, and in the same year the parish of Novate Mezzola bought the oratory. In 1956 the interior frescoes were consolidated; a new restoration, paid for by the Rotary Club and the Province of Como, was carried out in 1992-1993 and also laid out the area around.

What to see

It is a tiny building: a square room about 3.5 metres a side (3.46 by 3.52 according to the Valtellina site) with a semicircular apse. It has no real facade, because it is built against the rock face of Monte Berlinghera, and it is entered by the two arched doors on the north and south sides. Outside the walls are of pebbles and Moltrasio stone, with a few reused elements in marble and granite, while the apse has flat pilaster strips and pairs of hanging arches in tufa, a double-splayed single window and above it a small gable with a blind arch. The roof is of stone slabs.

Inside, the room has a cross vault and keeps only in part the decoration that once covered the walls: on the sides, almost illegible saints remain. The best piece is in the conch of the apse, with a Christ Pantocrator between two angels, and in the lower band the apostles, six on each side, separated by the central window. A travel blog tells that in the floor you can see the spot where the relics were believed to have been found.

Practical information

  • The Valchiavenna Tourist Consortium gives opening from May to September, Saturday, Sunday and holidays from 14 to 17, and from the end of October by reservation; a ticket costs 1 euro (0.50 reduced) and an extraordinary opening 40 euros. Information and bookings: 0343 37485, consorzioturistico@valchiavenna.com. Hours and prices are those published on the Consortium’s site in October 2026: check them before setting out.
  • The place is isolated. You arrive on foot by a path from Dascio (Sorico) or from Casenda (Samolaco), or by boat from the Mera or Lake Mezzola, for example from Dascio or Novate Mezzola.
  • Sorico is also the finish of section 4 of the Via dei Monti Lariani.

Sources

On the map

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