In Arona, across the lake from Angera at the south end of Lago Maggiore, we stumbled across this unusual door…er…window…er…decorative grating of the Beolchi Ossuary Chapel, built in 1683. An ossuary is where bones of the dead are deposited, which explains the skeleton and skull motifs.
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Found in Piazza Parocchiale in Angera, this parochial church was built in the Middle Ages. The facade is made entirely of rosey-hued Angera stone. The vestry holds a red cloak belonging to St. Carlo Borromeo.
Near the water’s edge in Angera, these stone designs were carved into the side of a small stairway. They remind me of goat heads.
This is one of the towns we drove through on our way back to Angera after our excursion along the western shore of Lago Como. Our good friend, Gianni, had taken us on a wonderful tour of the area and later in the day we stopped here to stretch our legs. Gino, Gianni, and I hiked up this little street into a small courtyard where there was an old compound of buildings. Little did we know we were walking into an adventure…
A few minutes after entering the courtyard, we watched open-mouthed as one of the parked cars started slowly rolling backwards. Immediately, Gino and Gianni got behind the car and blocked it from rolling any further. (You can barely see the car at the far right of this photo.) Had we not arrived at just that moment, the car would have crashed into a stone wall on the opposite side.
Gianni tried to open the car door to pull on the emergency brake, but it was locked. I helplessly looked around for a large stone to wedge under the wheel, but there was nothing. I ran to the large wooden door you see here to get someone’s attention; finally, a woman poked her head out of the balcony over the door to see what all the ruckus was about.
Gianni yelled up at her to explain the situation. The woman shook her head in disgust, announcing this was not the first time this had happened. She disappeared inside to call the car’s owner and before long, a wild-haired man came bounding into the courtyard from an adjacent building. Seeing Gino and Gianni pressing the back of his car, he yelled, “MADONNA!” and ran to unlock and brake the car.
After many “Grazie! Grazie!’s,” he graciously invited us into his side of the compound for a fantastic impromptu tour of his old buildings and gardens clinging to the side of the steep hill: huge trees, lush vegetation, a mysterious little stone grotto, and a tiny jewel of a pool with a goddess statue overlooking it’s blue waters. A perfect reward.
Gino looks like he’s dying of exhaustion, but still happy! It’s been a busy trip, but this day was just beginning. We were at the ferry landing in Angera, awaiting our “bartelo” that would chug us up the length of Lago Maggiore to Locarno, Switzerland. Gino had plenty of time to cool his heels on the boat!
This map shows the location of Lago Maggiore and Lago Como where we spent a week exploring and visiting cousins.
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Arches of multi-colored marble grace the spectacular Duomo in the town of Como (region of Lombardia).
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Il Tempio Voltiano, a museum dedicated to Alessandro Volta, the Italian physicist who developed the electric battery. This museum-temple is located on the shore of Lake Como (at the town of Como), where Volta was born and raised. Always fascinated with electricity, I think he would be honored to know that an important electrical unit, the volt, was name in his honor.
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Melinda takes you to Sicily and climbs a volcano. Wander through narrow, cobbled streets, seaside towns and ancient ruins on the Italian island of Sicily and the Greek Peloponnesian Peninsula at Melinda Trips 2007: Sicily and Peloponnese.
