church of san giovanni battista in mogno

Alarm clock 4:30. 4.5 hours drive through two borders. Unbelievably curvy and steep serpentine ride to middle of nowhere (see at the bottom). Literally - in the village we have met nobody. Just a few empty looking seasonal houses. And there it was. Hidden gem. Architectural beauty and photography feast. Oh yeah, and soul asylum and place to talk to him too. Quite in private. Open 24/7. Church of San Giovanni Battista in Mogno - Fusio. Tiny village in Italian canton Ticino in Switzerland. Who knew?!
So, I have talked to him for a bit. But also I have photograph his place. For more then two hours I was looking for angles, lines, patterns, symmetry and all elements of design I could think of. I was in heaven (spiritually and photographically).
And what's the story with this church in the middle of nowhere? Well, village has their own church since 1636. But in 1986 a devastating avalanche completely buried the church and local patriots were looking for somebody who could built them new place to worship. Swiss born architect Mario Botta stand up to a challenge, but he come up with something visionary and so out of that small region, so word is that locals were apparently against this "non-classical" way how church should look like. Anyway, in 1996 church was opened (do you seen those "six"? 1636, 1986, 1996?) and since then it is there. Here's a link to a very nice leaflet with a church history, including a photo of avalanche!
Plan your trip there! Just a road to go there is an adventure itself and whole Ticino region with all waterfalls around the road is terrific! Now - less word, more pictures...
PS: Thanks Mom! For all...

Budík na 4:30. 4,5 hodiny šoférovania cez dvojo hraníc. Neuveriteľné zákruty do prudkého kopca na ceste plnej serpentín (viď video dole), ktorá nás doviedla až tam kde líšky dávajú dobrú noc. Doslova, lebo nestretli sme ani živú dušu. Iba niekoľko prázdno vyzerajúcich sezónnych domčekov. A tam bol. Schovaný poklad. Architektonická nádhera a fotografické hody. A hej, taktiež duševný stánok a miesto kde sa s ním môžete tiež aj porozprávať. Pomerne v súkromí. Otvorené nonstop. Kostol San Giovanni Battista v Mogno - Fusio. Piďolatá dedinka v talianskom kantóne Ticino vo Švajčiarsku. Kto by to bol povedal?
Tak som sa s ním chvíľku porozprával. Ale potom som si to tam u neho aj nafotil. Viac ako dve hodiny som hľadal uhly, línie, vzory, symetriu a všetky dizajnové elementy, ktoré ma napadli. Bol som v nebi (duševne a fotograficky).
A ako sa teda vlastne vyskytol takýto kostol uprostred ničoho? Nuž, dedinka mala svoj vlastný kostol od roku 1636. Ale v 1986 im na neho spadla obrovská lavína a kompletne ho zrovnala zo zemou a tak sa miestni zástupcovia vybrali hľadať niekoho, kto by im postavil nový svätostánok. A švajčiarsky architekt Mario Botta to zobral ako výzvu, ale prišiel so svojskou víziou a niečím, čo bolo úplne tak mimo tohto kúska sveta, že podľa dostupných historiek sa lokálni obyvatelia pomerne hlasito vyjadrovali proti niečomu tak "inému". Každopádne, kostol sa vysvätil a otvoril v roku 1996 (všímate si tie šestky? 1636, 1986, 1996?) a odvtedy je tam. Tu je link na krásny leták o histórii kostola, vrátane fotky so spadnutou lavínou! Naplánujte si tam cestu. Už len tá samotná cesta tam je zážitkom a celý región Ticino s vodopádmi všade okolo cesty je úžasný... A teraz už menej slov a viac fotiek...
PS: Díky mami! Za všetko...