Monastery of Torba

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The Torba Tower
Fresco in the tower

The former Benedictine - monastery of Torba is located in the northern Italian Gornate-Olona ( Varese ), in the district Torba on the edge of the archaeological park of Castelseprio . The entire complex is part of the Unesco World Heritage Sites The Lombards in Italy - Places of Power . The monastery complex was donated to the Italian Foundation for Monument and Environmental Protection, FAI - Fondo per l'Ambiente Italiano , in 1976 and has been managed by them ever since.

history

The history of Torba goes back to the late phase of the Roman Empire, when the Romans built defensive structures to protect against possible attacks by the barbarians . Torba became a military outpost that was supposed to control movements along the Olona River. The tower, which was built between the 5th and 6th centuries, dates from this period. Later it was used by the Goths as a defense tower, then by the Byzantines. The Lombards used it as a trading post. In the 8th century Torba became a Benedictine monastery. The nuns added a building for the monastery cells, the refectory and prayer rooms as well as a portico with three arches and the small church dedicated to the Virgin Mary. In 1482 the monastery was abandoned. More recently, the complex has functioned as an agricultural building and has been adapted accordingly: the colonnade was walled up, the entrance to the church was expanded so that the church could be used as a warehouse for equipment and carts, and all the frescoes were plastered. In 1976 the founder of the FAI, Giulia Maria Mozzoni Crespi, bought the entire complex and donated it to the FAI, which restored it and made it accessible to the public.

architecture

Santa Maria di Torba

Marienkirche

The church was built in the 11th century when Torba had already been converted into a Benedictine monastery. Stones from the Olona River, sand and lime were used as building materials. The restoration work of the FAI brought the remains of a square steeple and a crypt from the 8th century inside the church, which reveal an earlier church building in the same place. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the originally rectangular shape was expanded to include an apse made of tuff and bricks. Inside are traces of high medieval wall paintings made of lime paints. The representations are poorly preserved and do not allow any conclusions to be drawn about the persons shown.

Gate tower

The tower was originally part of the fortification wall that stretched from Castelseprio to the Olona River. It was built using building materials taken from Roman tombs, which suggests that it was built in the 5th century. Originally the tower was reinforced on the north and east sides, but it was completely rebuilt when it became part of the Benedictine Monastery: it received an external stone staircase, some loopholes were widened to form windows, the second floor was painted as an oratory Walls (frescoes). The frescoes on the first and second floors of the tower are much better preserved than the frescoes inside the church.

Todays use

The monastery of Torba can now be visited all year round. More recent excavations from 2013 have brought further Roman finds to light.

bibliography

  • Pier Giuseppe Sironi: Castelseprio. Storia e Monumenti, Colombo 1997
  • Angela Surace: Il Parco Archeologico di Castel Seprio, MIBAC, Sorpaintendenza Archeologica per la Lombardia, 2005
  • L. Borromeo Dina (Ed.): Il Libro del FAI, Milano 2005, pp. 33-47
  • L. Borromeo Dina (Ed.): Il Monastero di Torba, Milano 2010

Web links

Commons : Monastery of Torba  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original dated December 16, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.fondoambiente.it
  2. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from March 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.fondoambiente.it
  3. ^ Pier Giuseppe Sironi, Castelseprio, Storia e monumenti, p. 134
  4. ↑ Sironi, p. 143
  5. ↑ Sironi, p. 137.

Coordinates: 45 ° 43 ′ 46.1 ″  N , 8 ° 51 ′ 48.5 ″  E