Eremo di San Donato (Hermitage of San Donato), Como

The Eremo di San Donato (Hermitage of San Donato) is a former Franciscan convent in Como, built in the 15th century and subsequently converted into a civilian residence.

The church and its monastery are built on a spur of rock in Garzola, 453 meters above sea level, along the path that was once the main communication route between Brunate and Como (going up from Como, about one third of the way).

It was a place of penance; initially a natural cave used by hermits, probably Benedictine monks, now known as the cave of the blessed Jeremiah. In the cave there are two statues of saints, one of which was beheaded by Napoleonic soldiers.

In the 7th century, during the settlement of eastern communities in the Como area, a fortified signal tower was built on the site and connected to the Baradello Castle. The tower became the bell tower of the church and the monastery.

The hermitage is dedicated to San Donato, the patron saint of Arezzo whose cult spread throughout the area in the early Middle Ages.

Formerly belonging to the Benedictine monastery annexed to the church of San Giuliano, in 1435 it passed into use by the Franciscans of the third order, to whom it was finally ceded in 1458 with a papal bull.

Later the church was enlarged and reconsecrated by the bishop of Como Giovanni Antonio Volpi on 4 May 1565 and the convent was built (later suppressed in 1772).

In 1780 the complex was sold to private individuals; it has since been used as a dwelling; in the early 1980s it was split up and transformed into a condominium of twelve independent apartments. The church appears to be the only building to have maintained its original function, it is a church with a single nave with a side chapel and an apse covered by an umbrella vault.

The hermitage was the residence of Don Giuseppe Bernasconi (1825-1923), a Garibaldian priest from Como who moved there in "voluntary exile" after having temporarily left his cassock during the Italian wars of independence to wear the uniform of Garibaldi volunteer, take up a rifle and fight alongside Giuseppe Garibaldi for the unification of Italy . During the campaigns of 1859 and 1866 he distinguished himself in assisting the wounded, but also in combat actions in the field. Since 1938, the dirt road that leads from the bus stop in Garzola Superiore to the hermitage where the prelate-fighter died at the age of 98 in 1923 has been named after Don Bernasconi.