CHURCH OF THE CONVENT - AZZIO

The oldest religious building in Azzio is a rare example of Tuscan-Umbrian architecture in Lombardy

The oldest religious building in kAzzio, a small village in the Cuvia Valley, is home to the Church of Saint Anthony of Padua and Saint Eusebius. Its foundation dates back to 1608, when Canon Giambattista Marchetti donated the ancient Church of Saint Eusebius and the surrounding land to the Friars Minor Observant for the construction of a convent. The cornerstone was laid on November 18, 1608, and the consecration was celebrated in 1622.

The building represents a rare example of Tuscan-Umbrian architecture in Lombardy. The gabled façade with a small portico opens onto a churchyard adorned with the Stations of the Cross. Inside, a single nave is separated from the presbytery by a triumphal arch. Noteworthy are the 17th-century wooden choir, the crypt, and the numerous works of art: frescoes by Gian Battista Ronchelli, the Baroque high altar, a wooden statue of the Immaculate Conception, and a wooden bust of Saint Eusebius. Particularly evocative is the chapel of Saint Anthony, which houses a sculpture of the saint donated in 1724 by the Della Porta noble family of Casalzuigno.

Some archaeological excavations have confirmed the use of the church as a cemetery: five funerary crypts have been discovered in the nave: tombs of the de Vincenti family, common ossuaries, and the tomb of the Third Franciscan Order. There is also the tomb of Carlo Girolamo I Porta, whose family resided in the nearby of Villa Della Porta Bozzolo in Casalzuigno, and the " putridarium", the funerary crypt reserved for the First Franciscan Order.

The crypt, which was desecrated during the First World War and used as a refuge by soldiers, holds unique testimonies to the history of the convent: here, in fact, the friars were buried seated in niches, as an ancient tradition dictated.

The convent, dedicated to Santa Maria degli Angeli, was active until 1797, when it was suppressed by the Cisalpine Republic and subsequently sold to private individuals. Of the original structure, only the refectory, part of the cloister, and a restored icehouse remain, also privately owned. The church, however, reopened for worship thanks to a private donation in 1978.