Varese 4U Archeo: Cairate, Torba, Castelseprio

On the traces of the Lombards: places of worship and power
Cairate, Torba and Castelseprio monastery
A journey into the past to discover our origins.
A full immersion of art, history, culture and sacred places

Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: Monastero di Cairate, Cairate vicino Proloco, Cairate Italy

Monastic complex of Santa Maria Assunta whose foundation would belong to Manigunda, a Lombard noblewoman, who in 737 would have sanctioned the birth of a female monastery. We will visit the finely restored complex ranging from the refectory to the internal church, from the parlors to the barns, letting ourselves be enchanted by the legends that hover around the figure of Manigunda.

Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: Monastero di Torba, Via Stazione Torba, 21040, Gornate Olona Italy

Torba Monastery, UNESCO site and FAI FAI since 1977. An extraordinary military outpost wanted by the Romans against the threat of the barbarians, which later became a religious center with the installation of a group of Benedictine nuns who in the eighth century built the monastery and, more later, the small church.

Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: Parco Archeologico di Castelseprio, Via Castelvecchio 1513, 21050 Castelseprio Italy

the Archaeological Park of Castelseprio which includes the remains of a castrum which developed in the 5th century. A.D. on military pre-existences of the 4th century A.D., surrounded by mighty turreted city walls, which also defend part of the valley bottom outpost where the newly visited monastery still stands, Torba Monastery. A fascinating story that of Castelseprio that until the thirteenth century. it was a prosperous, flourishing and strategically located location which, at the behest of Ottone Visconti, was razed to the ground on a cold night in 1287.

Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: Chiesa Santa Maria Foris Portas, Via Castelvecchio Parco Archeologico di Castelseprio, 21050 Castelseprio Italy

it is the oldest building in Castelseprio, the only survivor of the destruction and abandonment of the ancient fortified village, thanks to the devotion linked to the place of worship. The main reason for interest, however, is the extremely original and extraordinarily preserved cycle of frescoes that decorates the apse compartment, one of the most important examples of European wall painting in the early Middle Ages.

Duration: 30 minutes