The Church of
San Sisinio
The existence of this church is cited in a document of April 27, 1276 and in an inventory of the assets of the San Lazzaro Hospital in Como, Italy.The also had properties in Coldrerio and Castel San Pietro. An even earlier date can be read on an inscription by Prior Antonio Bosia in 1559.
We are certain that still earlier some sort of chapel was built in the premises of the castle where the Torriani family lived.The castle was part of the alpine defense system up to the fortress of Castelseprio which dominated over the Valley of Mendrisio and through Corteglia and Gorla up to the road that led to Balerna.
The bell tower and the bells of San Sisinio
Church of Saint Sisinio: the facade with fresco of the Saint
Church of Saint Sisinio: particular of the fresco representing San Sisinio
It is almost certain that the founder of the Church was the Blessed Guglielmo della Torre, Bishop of Como from 1204 to 1227 who was a descendant of the Torriani family of Mendrisio. He is buried in the Church of Torrello.
The castle was probably destroyed in 1242, when the Milanese who were politically Guelfi ,destroyed Mendrisio in order to have it as an ally in the fight against the Emperor who was politically allied with the Ghibellini in Como, Italy.
Other sources date the destruction to 1350, probably by the Visconti family who wanted to overthrow the Torriani’s from its dominance over Milan.
The chapel was saved. However ,there are only two traces of the castles remnants: the high arc that is the base of the church and the solid two meter wall which separates the main altar from the chorus.
The church is dedicated to the Saints Sisinio, Martirio and Alessandro respectively deacon, reader and who came from Greece. They were sent to Trento. Italy to help Bishop Sn Vigilio in the conversion of pagans into Christianity.
The three saints who preached in the Val di Non , San Zeno, Italy,defended a Christian family that refused to join a pagan rite . They were attacked on May 28, 397 A.D. and slaughtered the next morning.
Bishop Vigilio travelled to San Zeno to give the martyrs a proper burial.This occurred after the Edito di Costantino on 313 A.C. which recognised Christianity to be the official religion of the Roman Empire. The saints were venerated in all the region of Milan and that is why the church in Mendrisio was named after them. The remains of San Sisinio lie in the Church of San Simpliciano in Milan. Another reason is that these saints were protectors of the Lombardian Commons as the Torriani family by being guelfi was. On May 29, 1176 they defeated Emperor Barbarossa in the legendary battle of Legnano.
In 1450 the Torriani and the Busioni families asked the Holy Sede to obtain permission in order that the friars of the Order of the Served of Maria establish themselves in Mendrisio and take over the parish which had no priests and a very low income(20 fiorini)
The Papal Bull by Pope Niccoló dated August 17,1451 (the document is on exhibit in the Church´s Museum) granted the Served Fathers to use the Parish della Torre and to transform the annexed houses into a convent.
Said Papal Bull was effective through a document under the seal of Notary Public Somazzi of Como, Italy on January 5, 1453. Since the income was still too limited, the friars asked Pope Sisto V to transfer the convent to San Giovanni where they settled in the old Hospital (current Museum of Art) and remained from 1476 to 1852
On August 13, 1997 and through an
Episcopal
Decree,
His
Excellency Monsignor Giuseppe Torti ,
Bishop of the Curia of Lugano,
turned the Beneficio Parrocchiale di Juspatronato Torriani
,which had been constituted in the Church of
San Sisinio alla Torre, into an
ECCLESIASTICAL FOUNDATION
to be named
" PRIORIA DELLA TORRE
GIA JUSPATRONATO
TORRIANI IN MENDRISIO ",
with
own corporate charter and
Board of Directors
THE FORMER PRIORS
1. CATIIS Anselmo (1439-1450)
2. QUARTIRONI Giovanni (1450-1477)
3. BOSIA Giacomo (1477-1490)
4. TORRIANI Bernardino (1490-1496)
5. TORRIANI Damiano (1496-1528)
6. TORRIANI Antonio (1528-1557)
7. BOSIA Pietro Antonio(1558-1589)
8. TORRIANI Cristoforo (1559-1594)
9. RAIMONDI G. Battista (1594-1617)
10. LOTTI Simone (1617-1638)
11. TORRIANI Scipione(1638-1673)
12. TORRIANI Nicolao (1673-1696)
13. TORRIANI Cristoforo (1696-1712)
14. BOSIA Carlo Antonio (1712-1721)
15. FRANCHIN Alessandro (1721-1743)
16. TORRIANI Angelo (1743-1757)
17. QUARTIRONI Carlo Felice (1757-1796)
18. TORRIANI Agostino (1796-1826)
19. TORRIANI Francesco (1826-1877)
20. TORRIANI Edoardo (1877-1926)
21. GRASSI Carlo (1927-1943)
22. FORNI Lorenzo (1944-1954)
23. LEONE Giovanni (1956-1957)
24. NICOLA Cesare (1957-1961)
25. RIVA Franco (1961-1967)
26. BIFFI Franco (1967-1969)
27. PIFFARETTI Vittorino (1969-1992)
28. PESSINA Giuseppe (1992-1994)
29. CRIVELLI Angelo (1994-1997)
