Statue of San Nicolò
The protector of sailors who gives apples to children
Walking along the lakeside from the centre to the north, a square is reached dedicated to Antonio Stoppani, a renowned priest, patriot, geologist and man of letters who was born in Lecco on 15 August 1824, the remains of whom are preserved in a chapel in the city’s Monumental Cemetery.
At the centre of the red-brick semi-circular square lies the monument dedicated to him, abbot and geologist, the author of Il bel Paese. The bronze statue is the work of the Milan sculptor Michele Vedani, while the base was designed by the Lecco architect Mino Fiocchi; it faces the lake and portrays the geologist in a thoughtful pose with his right hand under his chin. The realism and expressivity with which the abbot is portrayed is vaguely reminiscent of the aesthetics of the artistic movement of the Scapigliatura, then current.
The inauguration took place on 25 September 1927, a day of great importance for the city: in the morning, the inauguration was held of the monument to Antonio Stoppani while, in the afternoon, it was the turn of Mario Cermenati, his greatest pupil and bearer of his legacy in the development of Italian geology.
Standing in front of Piazza Stoppani, on the pavement beyond the road, the two symbols of Lecco can be seen behind the monument: the Bell Tower of the Basilica di San Nicolò and Monte Resegone.
Turning away from Piazza Stoppani and facing the other way towards the lake, the Gilded Statue of San Nicolò in the middle of the water can be admired.
