St. Gerolamo Emiliani

First you come to the sanctuary of St. Gerolamo Emiliani that greets the pilgrims coming here. It has three naves and hosts some interesting artistic works such as a painting depicting St. Gerolamo and a silver shrine containing the Saint’s remains, both dated back to seventeenth-century. Nearby is the small chapel dedicated to Mary Mother of orphans, built around the home of the Saint. It has a unique nave and a wooden sculpture representing St. Gerolamo with three orphans kneeling before the Virgin Mary. Noteworthy is the carved marble Altar consecrated by the cardinal of Venice who later became Pope John XXIII. On the right side of the chapel is a small room where the Saint died in 1537.

Continuing along the center alleyway you reach the entrance of the “Way of the Chapels" built in the eighteenth-century to welcome pilgrims. There are Eleven chapels on the right side, each hosting a representation of the life key moments of St. Gerolamo. At its middle there is the Scala Santa, carved into the rock leading to the hermitage where the Saint used to go in prayer, while at its end you find a little square where the Church of Resurrection with St. Gerolamo Chapel is located along with a natural cave used as hermitage, around which the church was built. On the church’s side you find the Sala della Fonte (Source’s room) hosting a source of water. According to tradition this is the miracle of San Gerolamo, who touched the rock from which he brought water for orphans in a period of drought.

If you go on walking to the top of the hill is the Castle of the Unnamed (Castello dell’Innominato) described by Manzoni in The Betrothed with a breathtaking view of the Adda river, Lake Como and the surrounding mountains.