Nature reserve of the Sacro Monte of Varallo
The Sacro Monte of Varallo, in Valsesia, is the oldest of the Sacred Mountains and constitutes the most important monumental sacred complex of northern Italy. The 45 chapels and the Basilica that make up the complex were built and decorated with statuary and frescoes between the end of the 15th century and the end of the 18th century, carried out by the workshops of the most important artists then active in Piedmont and Lombardy.
The complex was erected on the initiative of the Franciscan monk Bernardino Caimi. The first supervisor of the project was Gaudenzio Ferrari from Valsesia, one of the most eminent Renaissance artists in Lombardy. From the mid-16th century, under Carlo Borromeo, the work was directed by Galeazzo Alessi. With the arrival of Bishop Bascapè the work was given fresh impulse under the artistic workshop of the Flemish master Juan de Wespin, known as the Tabacchetti, and by the brothers Antonio (known as Tanzio from Varallo), Giovanni and Melchiorre d'Enrico also from Valsesia.
The complex was erected on the initiative of the Franciscan monk Bernardino Caimi. The first supervisor of the project was Gaudenzio Ferrari from Valsesia, one of the most eminent Renaissance artists in Lombardy. From the mid-16th century, under Carlo Borromeo, the work was directed by Galeazzo Alessi. With the arrival of Bishop Bascapè the work was given fresh impulse under the artistic workshop of the Flemish master Juan de Wespin, known as the Tabacchetti, and by the brothers Antonio (known as Tanzio from Varallo), Giovanni and Melchiorre d'Enrico also from Valsesia.