History
The church of San Materno and Lucia is located in the neighborhood of Pescarenico in
Lecco. The church was built in 1576 by Hurtato de Mendoza and entrusted to Franciscan
friars. In 1789 it became a series of barracks for the French army. In 1810 the church was
renovated on the facade thanks to Giuseppe Bovara and it was dedicated to San Materno,
later associated to Santa Lucia in tribute to Manzoni.
Structure
The building presents the typical structure of Franciscan churches, characterised by a
simple nave with a gable roof and transverse arches. The façade is made by four decorative
pilasters with ionic capital and a neoclassic gable pediment. Placed centrally above the main
door there is a two-light window next to other simple side windows. On the left side towards
the church the chapel hosts a tombstone in memory of the dead of the te world wars. It
serves as a basis of the bell tower that was built in the twentieth-century adding to the
eighteenth-century bell tower named “Campaniletto” that was destroyed in 1713 due to a
lightning.
Parchment
The manuscript inside the church of Pescanerico is one of the most important objects that
the church has. On it the names of the pastors that led the parish in the past centuries are
written. Manzoni probably got inspiration for some characters of his novel by looking at those
names.
Neapolitan crib
In the church there is one of the most unique pieces of art in Lecco: nine glass shrines
containing compositions in polychromatic wax that date back to the Neapolitan culture of the
late seventeenth-century and that represent seven scenes of the life of Christ and the Virgin,
and two scenes of the life of Saint Francesco and Saint Chiara.
Cloister
The complex had a cloister that has been transformed into houses over the years, so losing
its architectural features.
Ossuary
Near the church there is an ossuary that dates back to 1699 where there are the bones of
the dead friars of the 1630 Plague.
