Oratory of San Fedele: A Romanesque Martyr Shrine in Italy
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.6
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Italy
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern
- Civilizations
- Duchy of Milan, Holy Roman Empire, Spanish
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Chapel
On this page8 sections
History
The Oratory of San Fedele, also known as San Fedelino, is a Romanesque sanctuary in Sorico, Italy, built at the turn of the tenth and eleventh centuries on the traditional site where Saint Fedele was martyred. By 973, the building was already in existence. Its role as a shrine to an early Christian martyr, together with its position beside an important Alpine communication corridor, gave the small structure a historical importance beyond its size.
The martyrdom of Saint Fedele
Saint Fedele is traditionally regarded as the protomartyr of the Church of Como, meaning its first or earliest martyr. His death is placed around AD 303–305, during the persecution of Christians under the Roman emperors Diocletian and Maximian. Hagiographic tradition, the devotional storytelling associated with saints’ lives, describes Fedele as a Roman soldier who converted to Christianity and refused to sacrifice to the gods before a battle. He fled toward Como, travelled north by boat, and was captured and beheaded at Samolaco.
A small shrine was first established at the place associated with his death, but it was later forgotten. In the early sixth century, Ennodius, bishop of Pavia, saw the saint’s tomb. Archaeological investigation has shown that the present oratory stands over an earlier structure, connecting the surviving building with an older phase of devotion at the site.
Relics and the medieval sanctuary
According to tradition, Saint Fedele’s relics were rediscovered in 964 after a local woman dreamed of their location. Bishop Gualdone ordered an excavation, and the remains were taken to Como and placed in the Basilica of Saint Euphemia, which was then dedicated to Saint Fedele. The oratory was built at the place where the discovery was believed to have occurred.
The sanctuary stood at the northern end of Lake Como before the formation of Lake Mezzola separated the two bodies of water. At that time, the lake extended about 10 kilometres farther north, reaching the point where the River Mera entered it. The site also lay at the beginning of routes leading toward the Spluga and Septimer passes. These routes formed a communication corridor between Milan and the Rhaetian and Danubian provinces, giving the shrine a place within a wider network of movement across the Alps.
Later uses and conservation
The oratory lies in the territory of Sorico, in the province of Como, while ownership has belonged to the parish of Novate Mezzola in the province of Sondrio since 1905. Its present isolation is partly the result of the modern road along the eastern shore. The older Via Regina, an ancient route linking Como with the Alpine region and its passes, ran by the oratory. During the seventeenth century, the route also included modest frontier entrenchments built by the Grisons, who controlled Valchiavenna at that time.
Between 1624 and 1627, while the Duchy of Milan was under Spanish rule, the oratory was converted into a fort for ducal troops. In the following century, it was used as a warehouse by workers from nearby granite quarries. One interpretation connects the building’s origin with those quarries, since some quarry areas had spaces for worship, although this explanation remains uncertain.
The parish of Novate Mezzola directed repeated restoration campaigns during the twentieth century. Work in 1901 was followed by a further intervention in 1992, which combined archaeological investigation with measures to protect the surviving frescoes. The oratory belongs to the Roman Catholic Church of the Roman rite and is associated with the Diocese of Como. Its Romanesque character reflects the regional building tradition associated with the Magistri comacini, a traditionally recognised group of Como-area builders and stoneworkers.
Remains
Plan and construction
The surviving sanctuary is a very small, almost square stone building. Its north and south sides measure 3.42 metres, the west façade measures 3.46 metres, and the eastern side, which contains the apse, measures 3.52 metres. Stone gathered from the surrounding mountains forms the walls. The arches of the apse and windows use tuff from nearby Pian di Spagna, while Moltrasio stone slabs form the base of the roof and additional stone slabs cover it.
Two entrances open through the south and north walls, almost opposite one another. Each doorway ends in a round-headed arch and faces the path that crosses the oratory’s area between Albonico and Casenda di Samolaco. The western façade is built against the ground, a configuration also found at the Basilica of San Carpoforo in Como. Light enters through two small windows, one in the apse and one in the southern wall. The semicircular apse contains a central single-light window with a double splay.
Vault and exterior details
Inside, a small ribbed cross vault covers the room. It rests on simple corbels in three corners and on an anthropomorphic mask in the western corner. This is described as the oldest vault of this type in the Lake Como and Como province area.
Three pairs of hanging arches, divided by pilasters, articulate the outer curve of the apse. A terracotta decorative band runs beneath the eaves. The roof is crowned by a gabled feature containing a blind arch, built at the same time as the main structure and described as unique in Romanesque architecture. A fragment of fresco survives in the gable above the apse, a feature connected with the building’s designation as a little temple.
Frescoes and archaeological evidence
The interior and exterior were originally covered with frescoes. The outside paintings have disappeared, while humidity and the building’s earlier hardships have badly damaged the interior decoration. The best-preserved paintings are in the apse, where Christ Pantocrator, the image of Christ as the all-powerful ruler, appears on the vault between two adoring angels. On the apse wall, only traces, chiefly the heads, remain of the apostles.
The apse paintings date from shortly before the beginning of the eleventh century to the twelfth century. The surviving eleventh-century work has been compared with the apse frescoes in the Church of San Vincenzo at Galliano, dated approximately to 1004–1007. Small remnants of other interior decoration include a band of Irish-type geometric ornament and figures of saints. The 1992 restoration revealed traces of earlier buildings and included measures intended to preserve the remaining paintings.
