Menaggio

Santo Stefano, Menaggio

Menaggio's parish church, a few steps from the lake, with the copy of Bernardino Luini's Madonna of Menaggio, whose original is in the Louvre.

Today
Visit duration: 15–40 min
Booking: Not required
Area: Centro Lago

Dario Crespi · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dario Crespi · CC BY-SA 4.0
Bramfab · CC BY-SA 4.0

Why go

Santo Stefano is Menaggio's parish church, in the town centre.

The seventeenth-century church stands on the site of a Romanesque predecessor, with its orientation reversed from the entrance on the Antica Strada Regina.

The nave and two aisles were frescoed by Tagliaferri in 1899; the apse vault depicts the martyrdom of Saint Stephen. The Madonna altar holds a copy of Bernardino Luini's Madonna of Menaggio, showing Mary, Jesus and an angel; the original is in the Louvre. The Sacred Heart altar has seventeenth-century stucco by craftsmen from the Intelvi valley. Nearby, Santa Marta on Via Calvi has the Roman inscription of Minicius Exoratus and a keystone depicting Menaggio's castle on its outer walls.

The Madonna of Menaggio and the vault frescoes, in the middle of town.
A few steps away, the town's historic reliefs on the outer walls of the oratory of Santa Marta.

Highlights

The copy of Bernardino Luini's Madonna of Menaggio
The martyrdom of Saint Stephen in the apse vault

Getting there

At Via Annetta e Celestino Lusardi 1, in the centre of Menaggio, a few steps from the lake and the landing stage; Santa Marta is at Via Calvi 15.

Accessibility

There are five steps at the main entrance. The side door on Via Caronti, on the left flank, leads step-free into the side aisle, and a short ramp goes up to the nave. Two steps lead up to the altar and one to the side chapels.