Chiesa dei Santi Materno e Lucia

The Church of Saints Maternus and Lucia is located in the district of Pescarenico, in Lecco. It was the convent church of the Capuchin Monastery, made famous by Manzoni in "The Betrothed" quotes it as headquarters convent of Fra' Cristoforo. The Church, extensively renovated, was built in 1576 by Hurtado de Mendoza, Knight Sant'Jago, and entrusted to the Franciscan friars. In 1789 it became barracks for the French troops. In 1810 the Church was adapted into the facade, attributed to Giuseppe Bovara, and dedicated to St. Maternus, associated later in Saint Lucia, in tribute to Manzoni. The building has the typical structure of the Franciscan churches: simple nave with a gabled ceiling and transverse arches. The altar of the chapel, wooden, seems an assembly of elements of the late sixteenth and nineteenth-century elements. It contains one of the most unique works of art of Lecco: nine glass cases containing wax polychrome compositions related to the Neapolitan culture of the late seventeenth century, representing seven scenes of the life of Christ and the Virgin, as well as two scenes from the life of St. Francis and Chiara. On the left side of the building there is a beautiful painting by Giovan Battista Crespi, known as Cerano, illustrating the patrons St. Francis and St. Gregory the Great who worship the Trinity. Outside, a unique triangular section recently restored bell tower.