Eugi Gufo's siteEugi Gufo

In Remondò (the largest hamlet of Gambolò) I found no fewer than two buildings worthy of your attention. The first is the village church: it looks as though it was conceived as something beautiful but never actually completed. Or perhaps it was simply never restored and has therefore lost all its plaster?

Inside, however, it is surprisingly beautiful. I would never have expected so much from the church of an agricultural village.

The church organ stands in an unusual position: next to the pews, turned 90° in relation to the altar. A specially mounted rear-view mirror allows the organist to keep track of the priest’s actions. It is an interesting system.

Among the statues and icons, a black-and-white photograph suddenly appears. It is probably permissible to display photographs of ordinary mortals in functioning churches, but this is a phenomenon that was previously unknown to me. The element of surprise is therefore enormous.

How often have you come across a chapel like this? It is yet another reason to visit the church of Remondò.

The second interesting building in Remondò is its railway station, opened in 1882. Essentially, it is the only gateway to the wider world, yet there are not many people waiting for the train. The waiting room is locked; two trains per hour stop at the single platform: the station lies on the Pavia—Vercelli line.

Among Remondò’s other architectural curiosities one may mention the windows of a farmhouse that are fastened from the outside. I still cannot explain this choice.

In Remondò (!) I saw one of the most charming and original monuments. It was installed (as you may perhaps guess for yourselves) by the Associazione Arma Aeronautica (Mortara section). A similar monument installed in  depicts the tail of an aircraft, so I feel authorised to suppose that the monuments scattered around the area might together form a complete aeroplane.

The serviceman depicted in another monument, on the other hand, appears determined to chase away invading tourists by force.

On the columns of a gate I noticed sculptures of pigeons instead of the usual lions. Well, in Remondò I had not encountered a single real pigeon, so the owner of the gate may simply be unaware of how unpleasant they actually are.

It is perfectly logical, on the other hand, to place a large «Kingdom Hall» in a tiny village like this: the clients do not disturb too many mentally sound people and can go about their business in peace.

Speaking of peace and quiet: this is the first time I have seen such a device up close (although the dwarf traffic wardens did not wish to come out).

That is all: the interesting things to see in Remondò are finished. Fortunately, however, this village was only an intermediate stop on my journey towards Gambolò (easily reachable on foot even under the blazing sun).