Colle di Cristo Re, Bienno
Facts and practical information
The Hill of Christ the King, or Santa Maria Maddalena complex, stands in the Camonica Valley, in the municipality of Bienno.
The two chapels present, called St. Martha's and Magdalene's, with an adjoining hermit's dwelling, are said to have been built at the end of the 13th-14th centuries. The frescoes decorating the cross vault of the lower chapel, attributed to Paolo da Caylina the Elder, were made in 1516, while the paintings on the front wall of the Magdalene chapel are by an unknown author.
Probably subsequent to the visit of St. Charles Borromeo are the sacristy and the Grotto of the Sepulcher, where a group of wooden statues carved in 1612 by Beniamino Simoni is located.
In 1930, on the occasion of the installation of the statue of Christ the King, it was decided to extend the Magdalene chapel and build the present stone facade adorned with a central rose window and six columns with Corinthian capitals from the ruins of the monastery of San Pietro in Barberino, now the Hermitage of Bienno.
Still noted in 1931 is the erection of the majestic Christ the King at Magdalene Hill in Bienno, which gilds the lower valley.
Bienno
Lombardy