From the courtyard of this church at Endine Gaiano, one can watch the lake changing season by season. In autumn the banks of the lake are covered with leaves; in winter in thick ice, where some risk going ice-skating; in spring they are inundated with flowers and in summer, with people sunbathing. Only a few metres separate the water from this 17th century church and its lovely view, which one will come across travelling around the lake by car or on foot.
The tiny hamlet of Borgo di San Felice, which belongs to the district of Endine Gaiano, is located inside a Parco di Interesse Sovracommunale (Intermunicipal Park) that has protected the unique habitat of Lake Endine since 2005. It is here that one finds the church dedicated to the Archangel Michael, head of the angelic host.
Constructed in 1628, the church is partly enclosed within a sandstone courtyard facing the lake. On the inside it is paved entirely in terracotta. Black and white marble alternate inside the building, where there is a 16th century baptismal font with a basin made of the prized local stone we know today as Dolomia, the local marble extracted from the quarries of Zandobbio, not far from Endine. There are further black marble inserts in other parts of the church, such as the altar located at the centre of the side chapel dedicated to the Saints.
Look carefully on entering the church!
Don’t miss the central portal surmounted by an unusual corona dating from between the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. Another curiosity: the church was constructed during the period when San Felice was starting the process of separating itself from the district of Monasterolo del Castello in order to join up with Endine Gaiano, of which it remains part today.
