Bigorio Capuchin Monastery

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The monastery above the village

The Bigorio Capuchin monastery stands above the village of Bigorio in the municipality of Capriasca in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland .

history

Ten years after the formation of the Capuchin Order from a Franciscan reform movement, in 1535, Bigorio was founded as the first Capuchin monastery in Switzerland. The church was consecrated in 1577 by the Archbishop of Milan, Charles Borromeo . It soon became one of the most important monasteries in the Lombardy province and the seat of the novitiate .

The monastery was enlarged for the first time in 1659. Another floor was added in 1688 and during the total renovation under the architect Caresana von Cureglia in 1767 the complex was given its current appearance.

On the morning of February 7, 1987, the monastery was badly damaged by fire. It was closed during the reconstruction and reopened on October 3, 1988.

After the Second Vatican Council , the monastery underwent an extensive restoration in 1966 in the Franciscan spirit of hospitality. Since then it has been a place of religious, intellectual and cultural education and a seminar house for courses and conferences led by Giovanni Pozzi .

church

Look at the choir

The church is dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta . The core of the rectangular construction with the retracted choir probably dates from the 16th century. The three-bay barrel vault with arched windows on three sides and the ribbed vault above the choir were created in the 18th or 19th century.

The altarpiece on the rococo wooden altar from the Renaissance period shows the Madonna against a landscape background; a gift from the Savoy royal family in the second quarter of the 16th century. Presumably it was made by a Flemish artist. The mural on the right in front of the 17th century entrance shows St. Francis .

photos

  • Entrance to the monastery

  • front

  • Illusion painting at the entrance

  • Monastery altar with altarpiece

literature

  • Celestino Trezzini: Bigorio In: Historisch-Biographisches Lexikon der Schweiz , Volume 2, Beringen – Bion , Attinger, Neuenburg 1921, p. 243. (accessed on June 26, 2017).
  • Art guide through Switzerland Volume 2, Büchler-Verlag, Bern 1976, p. 596

Web links

Commons : Bigorio Capuchin Monastery  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Giuseppe Curonici: La Madonna con il Bambino e altre opere d'arte nel convento di S. Maria del Bigorio . Ernst Schoop AG, Urnaesch, 1985.
  2. ^ P. Rainald Fischer: Nostra Signora del Bigorio. In: Helvetia Franciscana , Volume 16, Issue 1, Lucerne 1986.

Coordinates: 46 ° 4 '30.7 "  N , 8 ° 57' 0.2"  E ; CH1903:  716927  /  103757