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The Church of S. Martino near Mendrisio

$[A rectangular building of rustic stone masonry, about 25 meters long. At the right end, it has two stories and is surmounted by a small single-arch open belfry of the type known as a \'campanile a vela\. At the left end, a small open lean-to shedlike structure, but also of stone, is attached. It is set in a flat scenery of snow, a few trees for the most part denuded, and dense fog rolling in from behind it. It is a view of the church of S. Martino in Mendrisio, Ticino canton, Switzerland.]$

S. Martino, or more properly SS. Martino e Rocco, may have been founded as early as 963; the building you see, however, is of mixed periods, with the rustic N wall representing the earliest phase, very likely the 12c. I found the church very closed, so for views of the interior and a much more detailed summary — as well as for a view of the E end of the church, a 17c shedlike appendage that I found unattractive and therefore took no photo of, you should see the sites in the navigation bar at the foot of this page.

A closer view of the N side: the blind arcading seems to have been applied later to relieve the starkness of the masonry.

. . . and in typical medieval fashion, the two sides of the building aren't symmetrical: here on the S side, there are two tiers of arcading.

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