Basilica di San Vittore Martire

Nice church, basically a basilica, situated in a relatively small square. Unfortunately, it only opens for masses, I couldn't see inside.

The collegiate basilica of San Vittore is a Catholic place of worship, located in the center of Varese, dedicated to San Vittore. The baroque bell tower and the Gothic style baptistery of San Giovanni belong to him. In May 1925, Pope Pius XI elevated it to the dignity of a minor basilica. [1] Description and historyEdit Construction and events The basilica was built between the first half of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries on a previous church, perhaps from the fourteenth century [2]; in the vicinity of the baptistery of San Giovanni dating back to the fourteenth century [3]. The construction took place in three distinct moments: the presbytery, of a purely Mannerist-Renaissance style, was built in the first half of 1500 (on the basis of a pre-existing medieval chapel) and consecrated as early as 1542 [4]; the body of the church: transept and piedicroce, was designed by the influential architect Pellegrino Tibaldi and then built between 1580 and 1625 under the direction of Giuseppe Bernascone, who gave it a mannerist aspect [4]; the façade, neoclassical, is instead due to Leopoldo Pollack, a pupil of Piermarini, who built it between 1788 and 1791 [2]. Minimal twentieth-century additions were made by Lodovico Pogliaghi [4]. The Baroque-Mannerist bell tower completes the building heritage, erected several times over a longer period of time, between the 17th and 18th centuries [4]. Reverend Carlo Rancati, doctor of canonical and civil law, apostolic protonotar, vicar forane, who was a famous preacher, poet and praised prose writer, was promoted with pontifical authority to this distinguished collegiate church of San Vittore in Varese; was still alive in 1702. On May 30, 1859, as well as the bell tower, the basilica was the target of some cannon shots fired by the Royal Austro-Hungarian Imperial Army commanded by Field Marshal Karl von Urban in retaliation for the city's refusal to pay a sum of money as compensation for the battle. of Varese [5]. On the southern walls of the temple even a bullet remained stuck, which was then preserved and highlighted by a special inscription, giving it the value of a memorial from the Risorgimento [6].

Charming Church Square in the city center of Varese. Pedestrian place that allows children to play quietly.