250px, View of the chapels IX and XI. The Sacred Mount Calvary of Domodossola (also known as Sacro Monte Calvario) is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

sanctuary on the Mattarella Hill, overlooking

Domodossola Domodossola (; Lombard: Dòm) is a city and ''comune'' in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, in the region of Piedmont, northern Italy. It was also known as Oscela, Oscella, Oscella dei Leponzi, Ossolo, Ossola Lepontiorum, and Domo d'Ossola ...

(

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, northern Italy). It is one of the nine

Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy The (plural of , Italian for "Sacred Mountain") of Piedmont and Lombardy are a series of nine calvaries or groups of chapels and other architectural features created in northern Italy during the late sixteenth century and the seventeenth century ...

, included in the

UNESCO World Heritage A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

list. It was built in 1657 in response to the wishes of the

Capuchin friars The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM) ...

, Gioacchino da Cassano and Andrea da Rho. The

chapels A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common type ...

, dedicated to the

Via Crucis The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The stations grew out of imitati ...

, are positioned along a devotional route which starts on the outskirts of

and ends at the summit of Mount Mattarella. The

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a saf ...

on the summit was consecrated in 1690 and in 1828 the philosopher priest,

Antonio Rosmini Blessed Antonio Francesco Davide Ambrogio Rosmini-Serbati (; Rovereto, 25 March 1797 Stresa, 1 July 1855) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and philosopher. He founded the Rosminians, officially the Institute of Charity or , pioneered th ...

, founded the

Institute of Charity The Rosminians, officially named the Institute of Charity ( la, Institutum Caritatis), abbreviated I.C., are a Roman Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men founded by Antonio Rosmini-Serbati, Antonio Rosmini and firs ...

. Over the centuries the Sacred Mountain has undergone various modifications, rebuilding and restoration including, in 1957, the wooden

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

s in

3, 5, 6 and 7. It is a stop-over on the

CoEur devotional path CoEur is a Christian devotional and hiking route in Italy and Switzerland. Its Italian subtitle, ''Nel cuore dei cammini d'Europa'', translates as "In the heart of Europe's paths". History of the route The path CoEUR was created in the late 1990 ...

External links

Official website

Sacro Monte di Domodossola

Official web site for European Sacred Mounts
{{Authority control World Heritage Sites in Italy

Roman Catholic churches completed in 1657 Tourist attractions in Piedmont 1657 establishments in Italy 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Buildings and structures in Domodossola