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Bellano

San Nicolao Arte Contemporanea, Bellano

A church of the Umiliati documented from 1295, deconsecrated and restored in 2024 as an art space on the BAC route: fragments of fourteenth-century frescoes, exhibitions on the ground floor and, hanging on the first floor, Danilo Vitali's copper fish.

Visit duration
20–45 min
Booking
Not required
Area
Centro Lago
The front of the former church seen from below: pale plaster with the traces of old pilasters, the wooden door, a window on each side and the sky above the pediment.Iosonosempreio · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Iosonosempreio · CC BY-SA 4.0

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The front of the former church seen from below: pale plaster with the traces of old pilasters, the wooden door, a window on each side and the sky above the pediment.

Iosonosempreio · CC BY-SA 4.0

Why go

San Nicolao Arte Contemporanea is an exhibition space in the former medieval church of San Nicolao, on the edge of Bellano's historic centre.

The complex is documented from 1295 as an Umiliati convent, suppressed in 1571. After religious use ended, the church became a warehouse for the Gavazzi silk mill. Its walls retain fresco fragments from the fourteenth to seventeenth centuries, including the Redeemer, prophets and the Annunciation. The 2024 restoration added two triangular mezzanines independent of the walls. The ground floor hosts temporary exhibitions; works by Danilo Vitali hang on the first floor, with copper fish and forms of fruit, leaves and animals.

  • Fourteenth-century frescoes and the story of a convent of the Umiliati, in a church restored as an art space.
  • It pairs with the Orrido and the Museo Giancarlo Vitali on the Comune's combined tickets.

Highlights

  • The fourteenth-century fresco fragments on the arch and in the apse
  • Danilo Vitali's copper fish hanging on the first floor
  • The temporary exhibitions on the ground floor
  • The brick vault of the apse

Getting there

  • It is at Via San Nicolao 9, on the edge of Bellano's old centre, a few minutes' walk from the ferry pier, the station and the Orrido.

Accessibility

  • The temporary exhibitions are on the ground floor, Danilo Vitali's works on the first floor.

Practical information

Telephone

+39 0341 1570370

Dogs

Only in a carrier or a bag

Webcams

Updated 26 October 2026

On the map

Explore the lake
BellanoDervioSan Nicolao Arte Contemporanea, Bellano

© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL

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Sources and credits

Verified at source28 Sept – 26 Oct 2026Comune di Bellano — Discovering Bellanoopens in a new tab

Sources and credits

Verified at source28 Sept – 26 Oct 2026Comune di Bellano — Discovering Bellanoopens in a new tab