Comignago
Itineraries From the Park all around
Minitour Comignago (1/2) 
Comignago has a very varied territory, which in ancient times eveloped form the hilltop in two opposite directions: towards the Rese valley and the moraines of the Park and towards Montebello - Pulice in the direction leading to Gattico. In these three areas several burials bear witness to rustic Gallo-Roman settlements since the 1st century BC, and Roman ones until the 4th century AD. At Motto and Rio Caneva inside the Park there are two necropolises, respectively with 10 4th century AD bier tombs and with over 60 1st - 4th century AD cinerary urns.
Under Montebello rose the village of Mada (first mentioned in 1151), with its St. Jules’ Church, which disappeared in the Middle Ages. The name Comignago derives from the Cominii family, with several branches in Northern Italy during the Roman Age, which bears witness to the agricultural lands they owned here.
Comignago is first mentioned in a parchment document from 1046. Other documents differentiate between the villa, ancient nucleus on the hilltop (1347), the burgus with a moat, on flatland (1285), St. John at the Castle’s Church, today a parochial church (1323), St. Spirit’s Abbey (1282), and its mills (1347). The castle was destroyed both in 1311 and in 1358, and probably never rebuilt, leaving room for the church on the hilltop.
In 1413 Comignago; was included in the Borgoticino feud given to Viscontis. In 1447 Duke Filippo Maria Visconti delivers the feud to Vitaliano Borromeo.
St. John the Baptist’s Church is thus originally a castle building, occupying a limited space on the hilltop. This is proved by the size of the western hall and the small mediaeval bell tower. As the castle, whose remaining walls were seen by Cardinal Taverna during a pastoral visit in 1618, was abandoned, the church could get a bigger façade and northern side.
Inside can be seen precious 17th and 18th century wooden decorations, created by skillful but nameless local woodcarvers. The imposing stone stairway connecting it to the urban area was completed in 1796 on instructions from Father Giuseppe Maria De Giorgi.
Info
Other informations about itineraries From the Park all around are available on this web site, and nearby the described monument, in English.
Information provided by GASMA (Arona's Archeological, Historical, Mineralogical Group)
For guided tours please contact Associazione ProntoGuide
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Last updated: July 29th 2004