Santa Caterina del Sasso Ballaro

Tradition has it that the Hermitage was founded by Alberto Besozzi, a wealthy local merchant who, having survived a storm while crossing the lake, decided to retreat on that rocky shore, and to live as a hermit. Here, the Blessed Alberto built a chapel dedicated to Saint Catherine, which can be seen today at the bottom of the church. The chapel, which dates back to the 12th century, was soon joined by two other churches, San Nicola and Santa Maria Nova, whose existence was documented in the 14th century. From then until the 16th century, the importance and wealth of the Monastery grew. Dominican and Carmelite fathers lived there. In the 19th century, the Monastery began a period of decay, followed by short periods of relative prosperity. Since 1970, the Hermitage has been the property of Varese Province. Art and history are perfectly integrated in a very striking, natural environment, almost a balcony over Lake Maggiore, reaching out to the Borromean Islands. The church can be entered through an arcade formed by four Renaissance-style, rounded arches. The building, as it is today, has a very unusual structure, the result of the merging of three chapels that were originally separate. The paintings inside are rich and high quality. This important hermitage can be seen and explored, by surfing the multi-language website www.santacaterinadelsasso.com or by reading a brochure that is available in the main European languages.

The Dancing Rocks
The Hermitage became a destination for many pilgrims and the site itself came to be considered miraculous, also because of a well-known occurrence at the beginning of the 18th century. Five huge "dancing" boulders fell onto the Church, but got stuck in the vault of a chapel, without causing any serious damage, where they stayed for almost two centuries, until 1910.

The Elevator in the Rock T he Hermitage of Santa Caterina del Sasso can also be reached with the new elevator which was built in the rock by Varese Province. This elevator allows the elderly and people with disabilities, in particular, to travel the 51 metres comfortably between the square of "Cascine del Quiquio" and the main entrance to the Hermitage.

Information: www.santacaterinadelsasso.com