A pilgrimage site against drought since the Middle Ages, the Sanctuary of San Miro holds the remains of the saint who, according to legend, reached Sorico by walking on the waters of the lake. It stands at 319 metres on the San Michele hill, on the slopes of Monte Berlinghera in the municipality of Sorico, reachable only on foot along an ancient mule track branching off from the Via Regina; it lies along the route of Stage 4 of the Via dei Monti Lariani, near Selve, shortly before the final descent to Sorico.
History
The building, of Romanesque or possibly Lombard origin, probably dates to the 12th century and is first recorded in a document from 1286 kept at the collegiate church of Chiavenna; it was originally dedicated to San Michele. According to legend, San Miro — born in Canzo in 1345 according to local tradition — reached Sorico by spreading his cloak on the waters of the lake and walking across it; here he spent the last years of a life of poverty and pilgrimage, until his death in 1381. Buried in the church, his body was found on 10 September 1452 in the chapel of Sant’Antonio, an event that turned the building into a sanctuary dedicated to the new cult: his tomb became a pilgrimage destination from both shores of the lake, invoked against drought or to stop calamities caused by water, so much so that Milanese pilgrims called him “advocate of the Milanese in times of drought” and financed the 1637 works that gave the sanctuary its current structure.
What to see
Of the original Romanesque church, 14th-century frescoes and a single-lancet window survive in the right nave, while in 1526 the Como painter Sigismondo de Magistris completed a fine pictorial cycle depicting Sant’Antonio and San Miro. Restoration work carried out in 1987 uncovered further late-medieval frescoes hidden under layers of whitewash, and three years later the original access arch to the saint’s tomb chapel was rediscovered. The right nave also holds the oldest bell in the entire province of Como, dating to the 16th century.
Practical information
- The sanctuary, the second church of the parish of Santo Stefano di Sorico, celebrates feast days dedicated to Sant’Antonio Abate, San Marco and San Michele Arcangelo.
- Access is on foot only, along a mule track branching off from the Via Regina.