Church of Santi Filippo e Giacomo Apostoli

Azzone:
Church of Santi Filippo e Giacomo Apostoli

The current church of Azzone, in ancient times called Zono, was built in the 18th century over the original one, whose exact dating is unknown. The first stone was laid on May 8, 1724, and the work was carried out under the direction of Domenico Tetamanti from Como, from Scaria, based on the architectural design by Andrea Fantoni from Rovetta, who was also the author, a few years earlier, of the design for the Church of Sant'Andrea. The Parish Church was blessed and opened for worship on May 8, 1733, nine years after the start of construction. In 1857-60, to address the lack of space, the section closest to the entrance was expanded with the creation of two lateral niches (one containing the baptistery and the other a 17th-century canvas of the crucifixion); on the north side, exactly in 1860, the lateral chapel was built, recently restored and reopened for worship. The facade is divided horizontally by a cornice into two orders surmounted by a triangular pediment; only in the lower order does it have two projecting bodies on the sides, which mark the lateral chapels on the facade. Vertically, four pilasters divide it into three sectors, of which the central one, in the lower order, is equipped with the entrance portal (1793) in carved stone, with 18th-century lines. The consecration of the church took place on May 26, 1948, by Bishop Adriano Bernareggi, who confirmed the ancient title of Saints Philip and James the Apostles and sealed in the new main altar the relics of the Patron Saints and the martyrs Alexander and Adrian.