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Varenna

Santa Maria delle Grazie, Varenna

Book on the official site
Visit duration
10–25 min
Booking
Required
Area
Centro Lago
The little church's nave, with its benches, chequered floor and, at the end, the gilded wooden altar with the Madonna in its niche; on the walls, statues in niches and the Stations of the Cross.Ysogo · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Guerinf · CC0
  • Guerinf · CC0

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The little church's nave, with its benches, chequered floor and, at the end, the gilded wooden altar with the Madonna in its niche; on the walls, statues in niches and the Stations of the Cross.

Ysogo · CC BY-SA 4.0

Why go

Santa Maria delle Grazie is a small Baroque church in central Varenna, inaugurated on 8 September 1685.

It was built using a bequest from the parish priest Andrea Ambrosoni and a contribution from the Arrigoni family. The gilded wooden altar, with two large twisted columns, came from Villa Monastero. Its niche holds a gilded wooden Virgin and Child from the late sixteenth century. Niches in the nave contain statues of Our Lady of Sorrows, Saint Teresa of Ávila, Saint Gertrude and Saint Eurosia. Two eighteenth-century canvases by an unknown artist depict Saint Mary Magdalene and Saint Anthony of Padua.

  • A Baroque altar that came from Villa Monastero, in a little church in the heart of the village.
  • It is opened on request by the parish, a few steps from the lake and the ferry pier.

Highlights

  • The gilded wooden altar with twisted columns
  • The late-sixteenth-century gilded Madonna in the niche
  • The Baroque statues in the four niches
  • The canvases of Mary Magdalene and Saint Anthony

Getting there

  • It is in the centre of Varenna, on the square of the church of San Giorgio, a few minutes' walk from the ferry pier and the station.
The stone cartouche on the front, with the dedication to Mary Magdalene and Saint Anthony of Padua.Guerinf · CC0

Accessibility

  • There is one low step at the entrance, from a forecourt of compacted porphyry; inside, one more step leads up to the altar.

On the map

Explore the lake
VarennaSanta Maria delle Grazie, Varenna

© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL

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Sources and credits

Verified at source1 Oct 2026Comune di Varenna — Varenna Turismoopens in a new tab

Sources and credits

Verified at source1 Oct 2026Comune di Varenna — Varenna Turismoopens in a new tab