Sacro Monte di Varallo

A Franciscan friar returning from Jerusalem began this in 1491 as a substitute pilgrimage for those who could not travel: chapels laid out on a wooded hill, each containing a scene from the life of Christ built as a tableau, with life-size painted terracotta figures set against frescoed walls so that painted and sculpted crowds merge. There are forty-five chapels and around eight hundred statues, many by Gaudenzio Ferrari in the sixteenth century, with real hair and cloth used on some figures. Samuel Butler wrote a book about it. It was the first of the Sacri Monti, UNESCO-listed as a group in 2003.

History

The Franciscan friar Bernardino Caimi, once rector of the Holy Places in Palestine and an ambassador to the Spanish court, founded the Sacro Monte in 1491 with the help of rich local families, to recreate the holy sites so that those who could not go on pilgrimage might see Jerusalem; it is the oldest of the Sacri Monti. After his death in 1499 the friars Candido Ranzo and Francesco da Marignano carried on the work, with Gaudenzio Ferrari of Valduggia, painter, sculptor and architect, as the leading artist until 1529 and the creator of the Three Kings and the Crucifixion. From the mid-16th century, at the height of the Counter-Reformation, the site was remade to show the whole life of Christ, with a natural lower zone and a summit standing for the city of Jerusalem: many chapels in the garden area were built from 1570 to 1590, the summit was laid out from 1593 to 1640, and work went on until the mid-19th century. It is one of the nine Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy on the World Heritage List (Wikipedia, Sacro Monte di Varallo).

What's there

• The tableau chapels - scenes staged with life-size painted figures.
• The Gaudenzio Ferrari work - sculpture and fresco merging in one space.
• The eight hundred statues - crowds built up across forty-five chapels.
• The hill layout - a pilgrimage route climbing through woods.

When to go

April to October; chapels are viewed through grilles and glass and are better in good light. The cable car from Varallo saves the climb. Winter closes some.

Good to know

Scenes are seen through grilles or glass, not entered. Some chapels are closed for restoration at any time. The site is spread over a hill with steps.

Nearby

Varallo lies below; the Valsesia runs up toward Monte Rosa.