Chiesa di Sant'Ambrogio e Santa Maria Maddalena (Capronno)

The Church of Sant’Ambrogio and Santa Maria Maddalena stands on a rise above Angera’s hamlet of Capronno. Its nineteenth-century building incorporates an older church and preserves an eleventh-century Romanesque bell tower made with reused stone, including a Roman sarcophagus lid.

Why it matters

The church preserves medieval fabric in Capronno, a rural hamlet whose history is documented from the ninth century. It reflects several layers of local history: the earlier church dedicated to Santa Maria, the later dedication to Sant’Ambrogio and Santa Maria Maddalena, and the reused Roman material in its bell tower.

What to notice

The Romanesque bell tower was originally incorporated into the façade of the older church. Among its reused blocks is the lid of a Roman sarcophagus. Inside, restorers uncovered traces of fifteenth-century frescoes in 1993, including saints and a lion. Another cycle on the north wall is dated 1578. Later works include a late-sixteenth-century canvas of the risen Christ, a carved wooden altar from the late nineteenth century and twentieth-century frescoes by Paolo Rivetta and Enrico and Edoardo Volonterio.

Context and history

The present church dates to 1865 and incorporates the earlier Santa Maria building. Capronno and the neighbouring hamlet of Barzola remained autonomous until 1927. A document from 877 records Empress Angilberga granting the corte di Capronno to the monastery of San Sisto in Piacenza.