The majestic square-based bell tower of the main church in Busto Arsizio (Varese, Italy) was built in the early 1400s and partly financed by the municipality, which used it for many centuries as a watchtower for defensive purposes. The construction was completed in 1418 with the laying of the conical spire. Today, this is the only part of the medieval church that is preserved. The bell tower houses a concert of ten bells in the key of A major, cast in 1886. In this video, eight bells are playing a concert for the Regina Coeli on Pentecost Eve.
- Original bells 1+2+3+5+6+7+8+9 cast in 1886
- Bell 4 recast in 1891, bell 10 added in 1891
The church is one of the largest Baroque works in the province and on the site of two other churches dedicated to John the Baptist. The first church was built by the Lombards, the second large church was created in the 12th century to replace the first. Of this second medieval building, only the bell tower remains today. The church dedicated to Saint John the Baptist was in excellent condition when it was decided to rebuild it because the seat of all the parishes in the area was moved from Olgiate Olona to Busto Arsizio in 1583, because the archbishop had found the old seat to be falling down. The foundation stone of the new church designed by the famous Francesco Maria Richini was laid on 26 May 1609. The building was completed in record time in 1635, at the end of a ferocious plague epidemic. The 1600s and 1700s were the two main centuries in which the church was entirely decorated, especially by the priest Biagio Bellotti, the author of marvellous frescoes and the majestic altar made of highly prized marble. On the choir lofts on either side of the high altar is the Mascioni pipe organ, built in 1912 and played through a three-keyboard console placed in the middle of the huge, carved wooden choir. On 23 January 1948 the city's main church was proclaimed a Roman basilica by Pope Pius XII.
0:00 Photo documentary and panorama of the city
2:10 Concert of the eight main bells
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