A short distance after the hamlet of Reno one turns off to the right. On arriving at a large square one finds the bridle path which leads to the narrow ridge that overhangs the lake where we find the hermitage of Santa Caterina. During the Summer months Santa Caterina can also be reached by boat: this allows the visitor to admire the scenario in which the hermitage is set. For the lake boat services consult the timetables of the Società gestione navigazione laghi.
According to tradition the hermitage was founded by Alberto Besozzi, a rich local merchant who after having survived a heavy storm while crossing the lake decided to retreat to that rocky ledge to live the life of a hermit. Here the Blessed Alberto built a chapel in honour of Santa Caterina, visible today at the back of the church. The latter, which dates to the XII century, was soon flanked by two other churches dedicated to San Nicola and Santa Maria Nuova which certainly existed in the XIV century. From this point in time until the XVI century the monastery grew both in importance and wealth.
Following an initial period during which the Dominicans sojourned there, from 1314 until 1645 the hermitage was administered by the friars of the Milanese convent of Sant'Ambrogio ad Nemus, in turn substituted by the Carmelites who remained until 1770. During this final period - although above all starting out from the nineteenth century - the monastery experienced phases of decline alternated with brief periods of greater prosperity. Today, following lengthy and complex works of restoration and consolidation supported by the Province of Varese, now entrusted to the care of the Benedictine monks the monastery has once again become a religious and tourist locality.
The present-day appearance of the buildings is the result of the modifications carried out in the sixteenth century aimed at unifying the three churches into a sole structure.
On entering the hermitage we respectively encounter the southern convent (XIV-XVII centuries) housing interesting frescoes in the 'chimney room', then the small convent (XIII century) and finally the church which incorporates the Chapel of Santa Caterina inside which the mortal remains of Alberto Besozzi were placed (refound in 1535).
If you want to see the Chapel click here (it is a 135K file, and your browser should be equipped with QuickTime VR plugin).
One should note the Church of San Nicola, part of which conserved in order to form the transept of the major building, and in particular the frescoes of the vaults.
No trace remains of the Church of Santa Maria Nuova which was formerly to be found between the other two churches.
The fourteenth-century bell tower still exists on the outside of the church.
Having terminated the visit to Santa Caterina we return to the main road in a southerly direction and take the road-fork for Leggiuno.