Description of the attraction
The Sacro Monte della Santissima Trinita in the town of Giffa on the shores of Lake Maggiore is a religious complex located at the foot of Monte Carchago. This unfinished monument of Baroque architecture was modeled after the "sacred mountains" (Sacri Monti) of Horta and Varese. It consists of a church, three large chapels, two small chapels and a covered gallery, Via Crucis, depicting the Stations of the Way of the Cross. Around on an area of 200 hectares is a forested nature reserve.
All three chapels are built around the Church of the Holy Trinity, which in turn was erected on the foundations of a medieval prayer house in 1605-1617. The first chapel of the Sacro Monte, built in 1647, is dedicated to the coronation of the Virgin Mary. It is decorated with an elegant porch, and inside it is a terracotta statuette of the Madonna, saints and prophets. The second chapel, erected in 1659 in honor of St. John the Baptist, is notable for statuettes depicting the baptism of Christ in the waters of the Jordan River and a round covered gallery. Finally, the third chapel, the most distant one, was built at the beginning of the 18th century in the shape of a cross and is preceded by an elegant porch. It is dedicated to Abraham, who is depicted at the time of worshiping angels.
The three-aisled church of Sacro Monte contains an image of the Holy Trinity. The main square of the complex is surrounded by a covered gallery, which reproduces the Sites on the Way of the Cross of Christ. It consists of 14 arched passages with cross-vaulted vaults supported by stone columns. There is also a chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Consolation. This gallery was painted with frescoes in 1824.
You can get to the Sacro Monte della Santissima Trinita by taking the highway from Gravellona Toce in the direction of Verbania-Giffa. The nearest railway station is Verbania Pallanza, 14 km from Giffa.
