St. Eufemia Basilica

Archaeology | St. Eufemia | St. Giovanni

The St. Eufemia Basilica is Comacina Island’s most important monument.
It was brought to light, thanks to the patient work of Monneret at the beginning of the century. Like all the island’s buildings, it was destroyed in the 10 year war, when the Comaschi (people of Como) conquered the island and laid waste to it.

Monneret’s digs rendered visible the floor-plan and the remains of the pillars and part of the external walls; best conserved is the crypt, while in the complex an adequately reliable reconstruction of the original aspect of the basilica is possible. The building layout is that of a basilica, with three naves and three apses, without transept.

The first particularity is shown by the pillars, octagonal, of a certain type, that is archaic, which are not found in Lombardy churches, while they can be found in a few buildings in Piedmont dating back to the first half of the 11th century.

Of particular interest, at the church’s interior, there is a series of stone blocks which make one think of a probable meeting place.
Under the central part of the presbytery extends the crypt, covered by cross vaults supported by eight reconstructed columns, and by pilasters up against the walls, access to the crypt was made by two entrances made up of a large arch completely divided by a column in the form of a mullioned window, in which one opening served as a door, and the other as a window.
Little can be said about the exterior: we know that on the right side of the façade stood a bell tower, like that of S. Giovanni in Bellagio, and that the façade itself was preceded by a narthex in which traces of a support were found.
Only one door was in the façade, there were two on the north side.

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