Montorfano is an ancient Village, with one not still totally known immense history and.
And' placed inside of one small flat to 400 m approximately of height, contornato from a large forest of chestnut trees, birches and rovere and covered from a small river that bathes two antichi public washhouses.
And' constituted from 9 nuclei inhabited you of ancient construction, from 4 nuclei inhabited to you more recent, from a catholic Church of Romanesque origins, from a former-church protestant - communitarian Center of acceptance puts into effect them and from an area lookout - on the two lagos Maggiore and Orta-.
A road, the Ronco of the bishop, covers it all leaving from the public square/parking until to the escape of the delimited lived one from it puts into effect them Restaurant, passing for a nucleus centers them of the village where there is the ponticello constructed over the river, Fontana and a public washhouse.
Ronco of Bishop but continues also after, through beautiful route that passes from the Lookout, from the stable of the Roncaccio - where currently they are hosts asinelli the Mint, Rosmarino and mother Betty - from the forest and the antichi terrazzamenti - in which they came, in past, cultivated olives and grape until coming down on be them of lagos.

To of under of the Montorfano the Lago of Mergozzo and the foce are opened of the Toce River that arrives until to the Greater Lago.

In particular the Lago of Mergozzo, one of cleaned up lagos more in Italy and Europe, offers spiagge caraibiche of which one just under our Village.
HISTORY SIGNALS
One of the first storiografici replies laughed them to 1603 when one historical premises, indicates a place where: “there is villetta de twelve fires, where an ancient church is looked at ofwhich it was made until the time of the Apostles, ET are many Saint various reliquie de know to you, and are subordinate to the cure of Margozzo; ET ivi over v' was a strongest castle of which anco the foundations are looked at, nearby ET in saying place v' was anciently one Monastero, ET dictates church had many entrances”.
The Church is still fortunately, the castle instead has been sucked from the quarry of cultivation of the granito white man and unfortunately it is not more on hand than who it loves our territory above all and its integrity.
Before still of this citation, a going back testament per year 885 d.c that it indicates the necessity to supply for the oil being necessary to the festive lighting system of the church of Saint Maria of Novara, that is the cathedral, through its production of olive trees place just in the territory of Mergozzo; “having for border on one side the earth of S.Giovanni, and from the other the earth that is up to the Court of Pallanza, and inferiorly Lago Stacionense - the Greater lago then joined to the Lago of Mergozzo- “.
The increase of Montorfano but happens in the 800 with the development of the activities connected to the extraction of the stone.
Such taken activity foot sin from the end of the 700. In fact, to little Km of distance from Mergozzo, it still rose and it rises, the CANDOGLIA marble Quarry, than for tens of years it has supplied the DOME of Milan of the necessary marble to its construction. The quarry, that he is currently visitabile, in fact is managed from one society of from Milan Curia called “the Factory of the Dome”.
Some you leave of the dome instead are constructed with granito coming from white man from the hollow ones of the Montorfano.
The ripopola Montorfano therefore, and around to the mountain is born tens of places of extraction of the granito one that they offer to job to hundred of laborers extracting machines, calls to you scalpellini or in dialetto picasass.
The Village grows and grows also its social life. A circle is born laborer - of which today there are only of the memory plates, one small trattoria and the houses come restructured. Carrozzabili paths and roads are traced, but the Village remains intact in its architectonic characteristics.
An historical curiosity very regards the presence two churches on the same small territory.
It seems that to the end of the 800, the prevosto of the zone one had refused to go up from Mergozzo to the village in order to celebrate the putting of recurrence of the protecting saint of the scalpellini, provoking the reaction of the inhabitants of the village. They addressed therefore the shepherdesses of the evangelica church of Intra. which accepted to preside the celebrations, provoking a true one just scisma inside of the small community. Later on it came constructed to the Church protestant.
Montorfano, we said is wrapped from its called mountain exactly Orphaned Mount.
And' one strange mountain the Orphaned Mount, of geologic origins ....... One scoglio of granito to garrison and to supervise on the Val d' Ossola. And' crossed from the Cadorna path and it has been for many years a place accommodates them for the partisans who combattevono against Fascists and nazis. The lookout of the Republic of the Ossola, antifascita and resistant earth.

In the western depositor the Orphaned Mount accommodates still intact constructions of military archaeology, intentional in the first years of `the 900, from the commander in head of the Army Luigi Cadorna, of Pallanza, that it feared an enemy invasion through Switzerland
The buildings, constructed military of lever of the place, are of an architecture pregevole invoice, like the FURTIN, military building with sentry-boxes, constructed in the forest, with blocks of granito perfectly squared white man and green, overhanging a torrentello - to see.                                              An other area of visit is towards the top passing from the paths of the gravellonese depositor, that they arrive on a shoulder of Prato where the CASERMETTE, constructions partially dug in the cliff, crossed from one rise one gallery buia and deep. Over in the open air a large heap of gravel necessary to mitigate the artillery blows. Also on the top of the mount trenches and communication trench are found. But about this of it we will speak in the dedicated page to the paths

 

THE CHURCH OF SAINT GIOVANNI
To Montorfano to center one wonderful Christian church of paleocristiane origins dedicated to S.Giovanni. It has been constructed and reconstructed in three different periods:
1. In paleocristiana age
2. During the high Middle Ages
3. In XII the century
In paleocristiana age (V-VI sec.), a monumental complex formed from one church and a baptistry was built up. To the center of the baptismal classroom the octagonal source placed itself today visible tutt'.
A cemetary encircled the buildings.
During high Middle Ages (VIII-IX sec.) the church came reconstructed in greater dimensions, with three apses to semicircle, while the baptistry endured the reduction of the christening font and one ripavimentazione.
In XII the century, S.Giovanni came reconstructed therefore com' is visible today: in Lombardic Romanesque style, to one single ship to Latin cross, crowned of one octagonal cupola.
The church is realized in stone cut in regular blocks, the roof is in piode.
Facade (high 9 m. and wide 7,20 m.) are characterized from the door, an only window and the sottogronda. The door is sormontata from a lunetta on which letters CSGBG are read, more over s' it opens the window worked in stone with capitellini lateral. The roof to two spioventi has a sottogronda with thirteen supported hanging bows in cooked and sandstone from one simple mensoletta.
The apse finishes with a false figured external tribune that it is developed up with twelve small arches supported from colonnette in stone and capitello neolombardo.
Inside: the altar is placed under the cupola, the source is in rising of “trap” in correspondence of the second span, the pavement is in squared stones, the times is all in masonry. The horizontal section of the pillars is constituted from a semi-cylinder with two lesenette for side. The capitelli, leggermente cubical, they are marks you to read ribbings to the angles and, in their semplicità, rarities constitute one.
The altar is placed over a flowing scaffolding in wood, that it concurs to inspect the reperti of the previous constructions. The antependium of the altar - Solar work of Peter from Verna, signed and dated 1724 - is placed in a great golden lignea frame and the icona painted to oglio it represents the Madonna of the Carmine between S. Giovanni and S. Rocco; the lateral slabs represent birds that peck of the cherries.
The acquasantiera is constituted from a capitello svasato pertaining to the church of according to period.
The history tells that….
There are storiografi (Of Vesme, Gabotto, Lisier,…) that they incline to demonstrate that to the XII sec. previously, there was to the feet of the Montorfano a called locality Stazzona characterized from the church of S.Giovanni, that one of according to period, and from a castle whose rests were testify to you in a document of 1603, then passings with advanceing itself of the quarry to the shoulders of the church. Stazzona was destroyed from an earthquake that in 1117 was cause of the landslide of the two constructions and the fire of the houses constructed in wood and straw. With the landslide of the church the material of construction, columns and capitelli, was recycle for the construction or sistemazione of the rooms of the Montorfano. allowing the reconstruction of the new one and S.Giovanni puts into effect them according to the taste and the requirements of the new were.