Le campane di San Martino a Legnano (MI)

The church dedicated to St Martin of Tours was built in the 15th century, on the foundations of an ancient oratory in Legnano (Italy) already named after the French bishop, mentioned in a historical document from 1289. The church was rebuilt in the 15th century, losing the ancient Byzantine frescoes. The small bell tower was erected during the 18th century, the century in which the church underwent its last major restoration. The tower was equipped in 1820 with a new concert of bells, commissioned from a foundry that built clocks for Milan. The three bells can still be rung by hand, by means of thick ropes that descend into the sacristy. I was invited by a friend to ring the bells in his neighbourhood; to do so, we climbed up to the attic of the old church, passing through narrow tunnels and up wooden ladders to reach halfway up the bell tower. From there we rang the bells, I conducted the first concert. The district where the oratory stands had played a leading role in one of the crucial phases of the Battle of Legnano, when the army of the Lombard communes defended the war chariot on the steep slope near the Olona river. Emperor Frederick Barbarossa was forced to attack the army at a disadvantage, as he would have had to attack from below the valley. The army defeated the emperor and the church became famous, so much so that it was chosen for many suffrage celebrations, at the end of which bread was distributed for the poor of the district. Assistance to the poor continued in the following centuries, when the wooden coffered ceiling was added, and the apse wall was restored, on which the deposition of Christ from the Cross together with women is frescoed, a valuable work by one of the best painters in the area. #bell #church #catholic #italy #music #landscape #bells #war #catholicchurch #cinematic #history #documentary Music track: Epic Cinematic Trailer by Infraction [No Copyright Music] / Giants League