Sightseeing

The “Portici” – arches – of morcotesian houses, are considered among the most beautiful in the Ticino, and were constructed using noble stones and columns obtained from abandoned ancient village houses in the period from 1300 to 1500.

Is an octagonal building which during the 18° century added a portico, which confers to the chapel its present appearance. Inside the building, a fresco of Carloni, illustrates life-size scenes of Christ’s life.

The Church of Saint Anthony the Great was built around 1300 next to the convent by the Antonian Order in Vienna, a well-known religious congregation which cured lepers from the Olona region.

The “campanile”, designed in 1532 by the artists morcotesi Rossi and Paleari in Romanesque style, it was completed only in 1729 with the addition of an octagonal superstructure and the cupula, and so you can admire still today.

The origins of the ancient castle are unknown. Today, only the central part and the ruins remain, but what we do know is that it was a glorious military and civil feat of engineering.

The Renaissance-Baroque style church, was built in several stages. Initially, between 1470 and 1478 a building was erected with three naves in the Romanesque style, with six characteristic pillars in terra cotta. In 1581 the lateral chapel was erected, dedicated to San Carlo.

The Church was built between 1548 and 1553, on the basis of several projects by Arturo Maspoli. All masonry, including decorations, were entirely executed by the inhabitants, which saw his work voluntarily and the church was dedicated to the patron saint of plague victims.

After having built the Church of Santa Maria, your average citizen would have been buried where the current churchyard and the Oratory of Saint Anthony of Padua lie, while noblemen and the clergy were granted the privilege of being entombed within the church.

The grandest staircase of the prealpine region boasts 404 steps and features one of the most far-reaching views in the area. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and the same can be said about this masterpiece: the most important part was commissioned by Davide Fossati and took five years (1727-1732) and stretches between the only mule track to the current sacristy.

The tower is one of the few examples of medieval architecture left in our village and dates to 1249.