Church of the Sacred Heart called “La Baracca”
Church of the Sacred Heart called “La Baracca”
Location: Via Cerkovo n.25 - Milan
Existing from 1957 to 1964
The Church dedicated to the Sacred Heart was known to all the inhabitants of the neighborhood as “La Baracca”, a wooden construction built in 1957 and positioned where the nursery school is now located in Via Cerkovo in the Villaggio Bovisasca.
This wooden structure – the walls, roof and floor were made of wood – was the vital center of the neighborhood for more than ten years.
In addition to religious ceremonies, the bus that took children to the elementary school in Via Iseo stopped in the neighboring square, bordered by rows of poplars.
The elementary school on Via Gabbro was built only in 1966.
One of the peculiarities of this special place of worship was that it was always open: inside, in addition to the altar, there were statues of the Madonna, Sant’Antonio and Santa Rita da Cascia, statues that are still present today in the Church of San Filippo Neri. The religious attraction was so strong that the children sometimes entered the “Baracca” directly with their bicycles. However, no thefts or damages are remembered
On the facade of the church, on the left side, there was also a bell that served to call the faithful to Mass or to the activities of the Oratory. The bell was later replaced over time by a scratchy and certainly “not very faithful” phonograph record.
The oratory space was located next to the church and in this place every afternoon the children, after having done their homework, met to play.
In the spring and summer months, we played football (there were no basketball or volleyball) on the field next to the Church – now occupied by a parking lot – while in the winter months, we played inside the oratory – also a wooden structure like the church – with stickers (slap sticks, wall sticks, etc.), comics, tennis table, table football and more
Since there were many children present and there were not enough rackets, ping-pong was played “around” using the hand as a racket.
On Sunday afternoons, after Catechism, we could watch a film, usually a western or a comedy such as Abbott and Pinotto, Stanlio & Ollio or preparatory films (La Tunica, Francis l’asino parlante, etc.). During the screenings, the children ate licorice and castagnaccio (chestnut flour) and drank fizzy drinks or chinotto.
Both the little church and the oratory were not built for the inhabitants of our neighborhood: they were, but we discovered this later, prefabricated structures used during the war as soup kitchens for the displaced people of Milan.
The little church was demolished immediately after the construction of the Church of San Filippo Neri in 1962 while the old oratory continued its community function for a few years both as a cinema / theater and as a changing room for the players of the soccer teams.
The parish priests of the neighborhood in those years were:
Don Giuseppe Lazzati from 1954 to 1957 (Parish of Santa Giustina di Affori)
Don Piero Uggeri (1917 – 1984) for almost thirty years, from 1958 to 1984, was the religious leader of the Village. Even today Don Piero, buried by his will in the Church dedicated to San Filippo Neri, is a much loved and respected figure.
The little church of the Sacred Heart, or “La baracca”, was demolished immediately after the construction of the Church of San Filippo Neri in 1969, but for some of the historic inhabitants it remains one of the heart places of the neighborhood
