Chiesa dei Santi Quirico e Giulitta

The Church of Saints Quiricus and Julitta is the parish church of Urio, now part of Carate Urio on Lake Como. Its medieval bell tower stands beside a nave rebuilt in the nineteenth century, and the interior contains Renaissance paintings.

Why it matters

The church was recorded as a dependency of the pieve of Zezio by the fourteenth century. Its present form combines a medieval bell tower of local Moltrasio stone with a church body rebuilt in 1865 after repeated flooding. The building preserves the history of a lakeside parish whose community grew from 116 faithful recorded in 1592 to 361 in 1892.

What to notice

The square-based bell tower is built in Moltrasio stone and has paired openings in its upper bell chamber; the upper section may have been altered. The lake-facing façade has Tuscan pilaster strips, a triangular tympanum, central portal and semicircular window. Inside, one nave with side chapels leads to a raised presbytery and semicircular apse. The paintings include Renaissance panels of the Assumption and Saints Rocco and Domenico, as well as later canvases and an Immaculate Conception associated with the Morazzone circle.

Context and history

The church was a dependency of the pieve of Zezio by the fourteenth century. Bishop Feliciano Ninguarda’s 1592 pastoral visit recorded 116 faithful; by 1780 the number had reached 235. Repeated flooding from a nearby stream damaged the church, including in 1752, 1814 and 1841. In 1865 the community rebuilt the body of the church while retaining the Romanesque bell tower. Bishop Andrea Carlo Ferrari’s 1892 visit recorded 361 faithful, two dependent oratories and a confraternity of the Santissimo Sacramento.