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Chiesa Parrocchiale di Santa Maria Assunta

The Parish Church of Santa Maria Assunta (Our Lady of the Assumption) (Armeno)

The Parish Church of Armeno, the most important village on Lake Orta East shore, is consecrated to Our Lady of the Assumption, and it is considered one of the main expression of Novara’s Romanesque art. Among Cusio`s Romanesque churches, it is the best preserved, so much that, in accordance with the popular tradition, it has been founded by St. Julius himself, as well as the Basilica on the Lake`s Island. Nevertheless, the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption dates back to the XI-XIIth century, as well as the bell tower and the church`s structure, and in 1110 the consecration to the Virgin Mary took place, even though the presence of a smaller Romanesque temple has been confirmed.

The stately façade is divided into three sections and a portal. The façade is adorned with a series of pensile small arches propped by a series of stony devices, the mascarons, depicting some anthropomorphic and zoomorphic double-headed figures, different from each other. The decorations themselves, situated on the column’s capitals, prop up the stately portal.
On the left side is a long-limbed square-structured bell tower, dated back to the same century, with two double and triple lancet windows at the top.

Even inside the Romanesque art is dominating, with the three-aisle Latin cross structure. Some huge pillars with zoomorphic-shaped capitals divide the aisles. Some valuable frescos and the XVIth century pillars enrich the interior; among the most important works of art we mention the three-headed Trinity and Saint Stephen Protomartyr, brought back to light after the restoration works that removed the lime with which the walls and the columns had been covered in the XVIIth century in order to sanify the lazar house during the plague.

In the apses, the Romanesque art provides scope to following interventions, during the Renaissance and the Baroque periods: the 1548 Deposition from the Cross, by Fermo Stella da Caravaggio encloses the nave on the left.

Privileged monument of art and history is the title conferred upon the Church in 1908. This place is really fascinating, ever since the stateliness of the church appears before us climbing up towards Armeno on the route from Orta. Even the location of the building contributes towards increasing the charm: a bit detached, since in the past the wide church courtyard was used as a graveyard - which today is situated in the neighbourhoods – the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption lies stately in its Romantic simplicity, surrounded by wide lawns and dominated by the skyblue.

A place full of history and art, filled with spirituality: it’s the charm of the Romanesque art that you can find in the square stones, the colours of the frescos, the human or animal faces, ancient and mysterious signs that adorn walls and columns.





Zone
Il Mottarone

Locality
Armeno