Fai Autumn Days, Villa Tittoni and the Royal Chapel drag the visits!

The spirituality of places of prayer that hide artistic treasures and a history not always known. The nobility and charm of one of the most beautiful villas of delight of which Brianza is rich. There creativity which is born from clay to produce, with the tradition of human manual skills, masterpieces capable of crossing the centuries.

There was all this, but much more than what these few words can try to describe, in the Autumn Days that the Delegation of Monza and the Fai Giovani Monza Group they organized this weekend, just passed, in mid-October.

The richness and variety of the openness of the six selected sitesbetween Monza, Desio, Lentate sul Seveso and Briosco, has allowed a total of approx 2,750 visitors to take a small journey through time and space to discover some of the beauties that characterize our territory.

From the Royal Chapel (765 visitors), the complex of Carrobiolo and the sanctuary of Santa Maria delle Grazie of Monza, at the Villa Tittoni in Desio (855 visitors), fromOratory of Santo Stefano in Lentate sul Seveso at the Riva Artistic Furnace in Briosco were two days in which the emotions and the ability to transmit culture, passion and knowledge they united in an almost miraculous symbiosis.

THE PUBLIC’S RESPONSE

“We are very satisfied with the participation we have had in all six properties open for our Autumn Days – he explains Elena Colombo, President of the FAI Committee of Monza – on this occasion the commitment of our people 140 volunteersof which many new entrants, especially among young people led by Parent company Marco Carraraled to an excellent result “.

“See that many visitors, in addition to congratulating us, also applied to become volunteers themselvesit is something that struck us – he adds – it means that we were able to stir up deep feelings in the people who listened to us and to inspire their desire to give something to their community “.

In the face of people’s hearts, numbers, in short, count up to a certain point. But, of course, they contribute to adding elements of analysis to an event which, also thanks to one national communication campaignespecially on the Rai networks, with over 700 sites open throughout Italy, has become one of the symbols of interest in culture and also of the need to overcome the restrictions of Covid-19.

“We had in Monza and Brianza for the Autumn Days visitors from many provinces of Lombardyin particular Varese, Mantua, Lecco, Bergamo and Milan, but also from outside the Region – says the President of the FAI Committee of Monza – Desio and Lentate sul Seveso also arrived people from Switzerland“.

VILLA TITTONI AND …

It was the first time that this eighteenth-century villa of delight, immersed in the municipal park of Desio and characterized by different architectural and decorative stylesi, from Gothic to Neoclassical, crossing Mannerism and Rococo, was opened to the public on the occasion of the Autumn Days. And the success was almost unexpected in the proportions.

Almost 900 entries in two days among those, the majority, who had booked in the previous days, and those who found themselves passing through those parts wanted to admire the villa wanted by Ferdinando Cusanithen passed to the Milanese lawyer Giovanni Battista Traversi and then in 1900 became the property of Tommaso Tittonia prominent politician who became Minister of Foreign Affairs and then President of the Senate of the Kingdom of Italy.

“I do not think that the arrival of so many people at Villa Tittoni is due to the media interest and the controversies of recent days for the music video recently shot here by the Maneskin – Colombo argues – I believe that, on the other hand, they may have intrigued the fact that the Villa was transformed between 1772 and 1777 by Giuseppe Piermarinithe same architect of the Royal Villa of Monza and the presence during the visits of appearing in period costume which have attracted the amazement especially of the children ”.

On the occasion of this edition of the Fai d’Autunno Days, the villa of delight in Desio was also the protagonist of a particular event. “One was held on Friday evening from 8 to 10 pm exclusive visit reserved for FAI members only conducted by the historian Massimo Brioschiauthor of numerous essays dedicated to Villa Tittoni – he adds – among the many curiosities even on the noble and court life of the nineteenth century, also on this occasion there were the figures in period clothes who performed some historical dance steps ” .

… THE OTHER OPENINGS

There Royal Chapel of Monza is becoming a classic of Fai Days. But its sober and elegant style, the decorated stuccoes, its history fully intertwined with that of the Habsburg Villa never go out of fashion. As evidenced by the nearly 800 visitors registered also this weekend in mid-October.

“It’s about an asset that is usually never opened and, therefore, on these occasions even tourists visiting the Royal Villa take the opportunity to see it ”explains the Chairman of the FAI Committee of Monza. Which he then focuses on two new entries of this edition of the event.

This is the complex of Carrobiolo founded between 1232 and 1234 by the Religious Order of the Humiliated, but since 1573 owned by the Barnabites and the Riva Artistic Furnace in Briosco.founded in 1938, then a destination for sculptors and artists and today specialized in the production of terracotta tiles from Lombardy and in one color of various sizes, but also of artistic decorations and site specific installationsalso present at City Life in Milan.

“At Carrobiolo, where we reluctantly had to say no to the entrance of 70 visitors due to time constraints, Federico ZanottiHead of the Library of the Barnabites, showed us incunabula and ancient volumes, including one Divine Comedy of 1400 – explains Colombo – at the Fornace di Briosco, on the other hand, the owner Corrado Riva welcomed in this place of work and art three groups of visitors who were also able to touch the clay firsthand ”.

The Furnace is somehow related to the Lambro riverwhich also plays an important role in the history of the sanctuary of Santa Maria delle Grazie, a place suspended between almost millenary events, Monza’s popular devotion to Sacred image of the Virgin and the modernity of being a certified zero emissions convent.

“Brother Albertwho is in charge of the sanctuary, accompanied visitors to discover the many intertwining that have marked this place with a very mystical spirit, including political and religious institutions, production techniques and legislative systems, until the long closure in the nineteenth century and the reopening only in 1930 ″ says Colombo. No less fascinating and lasting is the history ofSanto Stefano Oratory of Lentate sul Sevesowith its cycle of 43 frescoes, evidence of Lombard Gothic painting.

“Our opening of this property for the Autumn Days also coincided with the village festival and this has favored the influx of visitors, including an elderly lady who, despite living in front of the Oratory, never entered it “adds the president of the FAI Committee of Monza, who collaborated on the same days of the event also to the national civil protection campaign “I don’t risk” on natural hazards.

“In Monza a itinerant route along eight bridges over the Lambro River to tell how it can become a danger on the occasion of a flood, but also the artistic and historical aspects related to bridges, in particular the Ponte delle Grazie, the one in via Annoni and the Ponte dei Leoni, through special signs and a QR-Code ”concludes Colombo. After all, what better than a bridge can create profitable connections and relationships, even and above all when it comes to culture?