MONTE TAMARO

A singularly beautiful panorama of the pre-Alpine landscape, the lakes and the snow-capped Alps. The Santa Maria degli Angeli chapel, designed by world-famous architect Mario Botta, is a marvel of contemporary architecture and features paintings by Enzo Cucchi.

A visit to the church is a “must”. This impressive edifice built on a spur of the mountain offers a place for meditation as well as a new perspective on the landscape. The chapel, built between 1992 and 1996, is dedicated to Santa Maria degli Angeli (Saint Mary of the Angels), and its innovative design represents a new take on religious architecture.

Built of porphyry, it stands on the edge of a slope opening onto an amazing panorama. The paintings by Enzo Cucchi occupy two main areas – the vault of the footbridge, where there is a tall cypress tree, and the very heart of the church. The deep-blue apse features hands cupped in offering. Twenty-two panels above the windows also continue the Marian iconography.

Capuchin Father Giovanni Pozzi, a leading expert on forms of prayer and spirituality, composed the twenty-two litanies which Enzo Cucchi has translated into attractive and evocative images (source : myswitzerland.com)