Description
The sanctuary of Santa Caterina del Sasso is one of the loveliest places on Lake Maggiore. It overlooks the Piedmont side of the lake, the Mottarone and the Borromean islands from the rock on the Lombard side.
It can be reached by ferry (which offers the most dramatic views) or via car from the road on the Lombard bank of the lake.
It was founded by Alberto Besozzi di Arolo who was a hermit there following a shipwreck on the rock below. He built a small votive chapel above his cave-residence.
The Dominicans settled there in 1230 and built the chapels of Santa Maria Nova (1270) and San Nicola (1305-10), protector from shipwrecks, and the central Gothic monastery. The monks of the Milanese monastery of S. Ambrogio arrived there in 1320 and unified the three chapels into a single church. In 1800, the Austrian government broke down the unified property of the monastery and gave the parts to the local parishes.
A long and complex series of restoration by the Dominican friars recently saved the sanctuary from ruin. Besides the renovation of the Gothic and Renaissance sections of the site, superb 15th c. frescoes were found in the Capitolare room and a 14th c. Crucifix in the apse of the church of the 14th c. church of San Nicola.