Historical notes

In 1656, during Lent, Capuchin friars Gioacchino da Cassano and Andrea da Rho proposed to the community to develop a "Way of Sorrows" with stations along the way. Subsequently, Bishop Odescalchi provided the addresses for the sites, paying attention to the arrangement of the trees to create areas for meditation. The works proceeded expeditiously also thanks to the reuse of materials obtained from the ruins of the Mattarella Tower.
The first construction phase ended with the consecration of the sanctuary by Bishop Visconti (1690) coordinated by Giovanni Matteo Capis, from Ossola, to whom the community assigned the role of promoter of the "Fabbriceria".
Capis involved the sculptor Dionigi Bussola, who worked for the Milan Cathedral, the most important sculpting works in Northern Italy, as well as for projects at the Sacred Mounts of Varallo, Orta and Varese.
A second stage of the works was inaugurated in the eighteenth century: the canons tried to continue into Capis' footsteps: more than sixty statues were created by Giuseppe Rusnati and seven chapels were built.
In 1810, the Capuchin friars were forced to leave because the religious orders were disbanded, and the convent was converted into military barracks.
Antonio Rosmini found out about the Mattarella Mountain and chose it as the location for its new religious congregation. In 1828, once in Domodossola, he began what would become the Novitiate and the Center of Spirituality for Priests and Laymen, revitalizing the Sacred Mount.