The work was long, but the historical importance of the Balerna Collegiate Church required it. After twenty years of planning and four of restoration, one of the most significant ecclesiastical buildings in Ticino welcomed the faithful with a completely renewed look.
The different phases of the restoration
To allow the community to continue to frequent the Collegiate Church dedicated to San Vittore, the renovation works took place in different phases. As the director of the works, the architect, explains to us Raffaele Cavadini«we started with the parish house and continued with the Nunciature palace. Subsequently, we carried out the external restoration of the church and the baptistery, cleaning the facades and renovating the attics and roofs. Finally, we focused on the interior of the baptistery and subsequently the interior of the church.” These last two phases did not take place at the same time, to allow the faithful to continue following the celebrations. In particular, the works involved the roof «due to the poor conditions» and the baptistery, «of Romanesque origin and similar to the one present in Riva San Vitale: both have a square plan, but the immersion tank present in the lake municipality is built in a single block of excavated granite, while the one in Balerna, as emerged from a georadar survey, is in masonry”. The historic basin is currently located underground and, «when the baptistery became a chapel, a new sixteenth-century baptismal font was placed in its place».
A museum lighting system
Among the protagonists of the renovation there is also the restorer Andrea Meregalli. Its role – together with the cantonal cultural heritage office which accompanied and supported the important work – was to work both in the baptistery and, in this last phase, inside the church. «My task was to restore practically all the decorative apparatus, such as plaster, stucco, painting, wall paintings and all the stone elements that make up the altars». Meregalli's retouching also made hidden ancient corners visible: «By cleaning the stuccos, we brought them back to their primitive condition. In the two main chapels, the last layers of paint have been removed, including those from the 1950s, to bring out the simple eighteenth-century colours, such as light gray and ivory white. In the side chapels, however, we have maintained the restoration carried out 70 years ago, as it had been modified so much so that it was no longer possible to recover the original situation.”
The new sacred furnishings respect the norms established by the liturgical reform implemented after the Second Vatican Council, which provides that the mass is celebrated “ad orientem versus populum”, that is, that the priest does not necessarily have to turn his back on the faithful. Until now, these furnishings were made of Varenna marble, but «this type of stone no longer exists – specifies Cavadini –; therefore, we opted for Nero Marquinia, coming from Spain.” In addition to the new black ambo and altar with whitish veins, «a walnut wood seat was created and the entire lighting system was modified: museum lighting fixtures were installed to enhance the colors of the frescoes, given that the decorative apparatus is of great importance.”
The Eurovision Mass
The celebrations, which began on Thursday 24 October with the rite of dedication of the altar, will continue until 30 November, when the Mendrisio Opera Choir concert will be held. In these next few weeks, the event that will reach the greatest number of faithful will be the All Saints' Mass, broadcast on Eurovision. This celebration, explains the archpriest Don Gian Pietro Ministrini «It will involve many children. When the SSR organizes these filmings it chooses the celebrant and the choir which will be entrusted to the Cathedral Choral School”, which this year reaches the milestone of 40 years of activity. It will also be «an opportunity to explain to children the paintings they will see shine. The church, over the decades, had become a little dark and gloomy due to air heating and candles. Now, in this treasure chest of art, you can admire the different Ticino schools that alternated from the year one thousand up to the baroque art of the eighteenth century.” Don Ministrini launches an invitation to those who were unable to participate in the first days of the celebration: «There has been a lot of waiting for the completion of these works. Anyone who comes to visit the church will be truly impressed by the appearance of one of the most beautiful places of worship in Ticino.”
