Information- Monte Mesma can be reached by car: from the A26, Arona exit. Continue towards Invorio-Gozzano-Ameno and take the sign for a narrow uphill road, which you encounter along the SP that connects Ameno to Bolzano Novarese.
Ameno is 41 km from Malpensa airport. By train: the nearest train station is Orta-Miasino.
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Geographical description– Monte Mesma is a hill located at 576 m. above sea level in the municipality of Ameno, on the top of which there is a seventeenth-century church and convent. The Monte Mesma area is a reserve rich in vegetation and in particular in chestnut and oak woods, beneath which the Agogna stream flows. In the part adjacent to the convent the Franciscan friars still cultivate meadows and vegetable gardens. Established by the Piedmont Region in 1993 as a Special Nature Reserve, Monte Mesma attracts both pilgrims and hikers who can climb the mountain following the convenient, well-marked paths, accompanied by information panels regarding historical events and interesting environmental news.
A bit of history- The monumental complex of Monte Mesma includes the Franciscan convent, the church dedicated to San Francesco and two Viae Crucis. The view from the square is splendid, it allows you to see Lake Orta and also Monte Rosa. In the center of the square, there is a centuries-old olive tree. Numerous testimonies found on the mountain, especially tombs with various furnishings, demonstrate that Monte Mesma was inhabited by man since the early Iron Age (7th-5th century BC). The very ancient small bridge that crosses the Membra stream, at the foot of the hill, dates back to the Roman age. The religious complex was built between 1619 and 1635 on the remains of a medieval castle built in the 12th century by the municipality of Novara and then destroyed in 1358 by the inhabitants of Lortallo and Ameno tired of abuses and raids.
What to see and what to do- Particularly evocative is the visit to the convent of Monte Mesma, on whose walls you can admire various seventeenth-century sundials. The convent complex is structured around two splendid seventeenth-century cloisters in Baroque style: the first in the past served as a shelter for pilgrims seeking shelter, and the second, with an ancient well which is the Convent's water reserve, gives access to the so-called "stove room" where a large Oira green serpentine stove dating back to 1727 is preserved.
The two access routes to Monte Mesma from Ameno and Bolzano Novarese are the routes of two Viae Crucis erected starting in 1659. Worth visiting are the former hall of the Chapter of Guilts, the Refectory and the Scaldatoio (once the only room heated), as well as the rich library with over 5000 volumes, which among the particularly valuable works includes one of the first printed editions (1477-78) of Dante's Comedy.
A well-marked path (stream route) allows you to follow the course of the Rio Membra and the Agogna stream and to follow a circular ring that runs along the sides of the Monte Mesma hill. Of particular interest are the Romanesque bridge over the Membra stream and the remains of an eighteenth-century blacksmith's forge along the Agogna valley.
The convent of Monte Mesma, an ancient structure in the middle of the woods, lends itself very well to hosting individuals and groups with the aim of experiencing moments of encounters and spirituality, in a quiet place. It is a concrete proposal for silence, an introduction to prayer and the search for God's will in one's life.
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