San Fedele di Como: un modello architettonico tra centro e meridione dell'Impero

S. Fedele was probably the former cathedral of Como. It was originally consecrated to S. Eufemia and it belonged to an early-Christian group composed by two other sacral buildings and an atrium. The church received in 964 the relics of the martyr Fedele and changed therefore its consecration; few years later it lost the cathedral dignity. Meanwhile, all the buildings of the compound were modified. The earliest portion of S. Fedele is the lower story of the bell tower, that shows features of the second half of the 11th century. The most part of the church building displays instead a masonry similar to that of constructions of the 12th century, with the exception of the apse, that has different materials and more mature characters. These elements, together with the discontinuity between the masonry of the northern side chapel and that of the transept, suggest that the apse must be assigned to a second phase, probably after the war between Milan and Como (1118-1127). Since the city was not rebuilt until the intervention of Barbarossa in 1158, the east end of S. Fedele probably belongs to the mid-12th century. The former project of the building had perhaps a continuous ambulatory, inspired by models of the first half of the 11th century in the Lower Rhine area, with a strong imperial meaning. It's therefore probable that the commissioner of the church was not the Bishop (in those years supporter of the Pope), but directly the chapter of S. Fedele.