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Lecco

Basilica of San Nicolò, Lecco

Lecco's main church, above Piazza Cermenati and on the old walls of the town: remade by Giuseppe Bovara as a neoclassical temple, with the Giottesque frescoes of the baptistery, Enrico Manfrini's bronze doors and the 96-metre bell tower.

Visit duration
15–30 min
Booking
Not required
Area
Lecco Branch
The basilica's white neoclassical façade at the top of the steps, with the bell tower behind and the mountain to the left, under a blue sky.Mike Peel · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Jwslubbock · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Pufui PcPifpef · CC BY-SA 4.0

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The basilica's white neoclassical façade at the top of the steps, with the bell tower behind and the mountain to the left, under a blue sky.

Mike Peel · CC BY-SA 4.0

Why go

The basilica of San Nicolò is Lecco's main church, above Piazza Cermenati, combining neoclassical forms with surviving medieval parts.

It stands on the old town walls and was enlarged in the nineteenth century to Giuseppe Bovara's design, with a large coffered vault. The baptistery retains fourteenth-century frescoes of Saint Anthony Abbot's life; parts of the medieval transept and the old small bell tower also survive. Luigi Morgari painted the Triumph of Christ and Glory of the Rosary. Enrico Manfrini made the three bronze doors and fourteen Stations of the Cross. On the entrance wall is the Bernasconi organ of 1861, incorporating material from the earlier Serassi; in the apse is the Balbiani Vegezzi-Bossi choir organ of 1974. Beside it rises the 96-metre bell tower.

  • The neo-Gothic bell tower was begun in 1882, completed with its cross in 1903 and inaugurated with nine bells in 1904.
  • Enrico Manfrini's bronze doors of 1975 show Christ, the Virgin, Popes John XXIII and Paul VI and Saints Nicholas and Stephen.
  • In the choir, two Art Nouveau stained-glass windows depict Saint Ambrose and Saint Charles Borromeo.

Highlights

  • The fourteenth-century Saint Anthony Abbot cycle in the baptistery
  • Enrico Manfrini's bronze doors and Stations of the Cross
  • The Bernasconi organ of 1861

Getting there

  • It stands above Piazza Cermenati, a few steps from the lakefront and Piazza XX Settembre, five minutes' walk from the station.
The neoclassical high altar with flowers and, behind it, the choir organ's pipes under the arches of the apse.Pufui PcPifpef · CC BY-SA 4.0

Accessibility

  • A ramp on the right of the façade leads into the basilica, bypassing the six steps of the main entrance.
  • Instead of the steps up from the lakefront, the forecourt can be reached from Via Mascari, where disabled parking badge holders may park on the forecourt during opening hours. Inside, the aisles are free of obstacles.

On the map

Explore the lake
LeccoBasilica of San Nicolò, Lecco

© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL

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