Skip to content

Brienno

Church of the Immacolata, Brienno

Madonna del Ronco on the Puncett headland, with frescoes above the altar and a military tunnel beneath the forecourt.

Visit duration
20–40 min
Booking
Not required
Area
First Basin
The Immacolata's bell tower and the pale walls of the complex on the spur, among cypresses and dense trees above the lake, with a domed chapel lower down; on the left the mountains of the shore and a sky of white clouds.Maurizio Moro5153 · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Ysogo · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Adrian Michael · CC BY 3.0

1 / 3

The Immacolata's bell tower and the pale walls of the complex on the spur, among cypresses and dense trees above the lake, with a domed chapel lower down; on the left the mountains of the shore and a sky of white clouds.

Maurizio Moro5153 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Why go

The church of the Immacolata, also known as Madonna del Ronco, stands on the Puncett headland above the lake, near Brienno's cemetery.

Built in the seventeenth century over an earlier oratory, it was complete by 1707. The porch probably belongs to the enlargement of 1865. The single-nave interior has a Verona marble balustrade and an altar frontal in scagliola, a coloured plaster mixture imitating stone inlay. Frescoes above the altar depict a scene from the Apocalypse, the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel and the kings David and Solomon. Beneath the forecourt lies a First World War demolition tunnel, designed to block the Via Regina in the event of invasion.

  • Besides the mine shafts, the tunnel beneath the forecourt has underground shelters and service rooms.
  • The tunnel belongs to the Cadorna Line, the defences built along the Swiss border to protect the Po plain.

Highlights

  • The bell tower above the lake
  • The stone porch
  • The frescoes above the altar
  • The Verona marble balustrade and scagliola altar frontal

Getting there

  • It stands at the end of the village, on the Puncett, near the cemetery: you reach it on foot along the footpath from the centre towards the cemetery. ASF Autolinee's C110 Como–Menaggio–Colico bus stops in Brienno.
The church and the cemetery buildings seen from the lake, on the wooded slope above the shore, with a jetty and sunshades below.Ste Lemm · CC BY-SA 4.0

On the map

Explore the lake
NessoBriennoChurch of the Immacolata, Brienno

© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL

What's on nearby

Events within a few kilometres, on now or coming up.

See all

Nearby: places, experiences, services

Distances as the crow flies.

Sources and credits

Sources and credits