ART AND CULTURE
Holy heritage
TORTONA
TORTONA CATHEDRAL, piazza Duomo
Anno:
the cathedral, dedicated to San Lorenzo and Santa Maria Assunta, was built around 1574 to replace the ancient one located on the top of the hill and expropriated by the Spaniards. Works went on for over 30 years under different dockyards hands.
Style: due to the long period required for reconstruction, the cathedral reflects both the baroque and neo-classic style. The current façade is a remake of neo-classic shapes dating back around 1880, based on the design of the architect Nicolò Bruno.
Notes: the perimetric altars are enriched by some paintings belonging to “Cinquecento” and “Seicento”. In the presbytery lays the urn of San Marziano martire, first bishop and patron of the Diocesi of Tortona.
CHIESA DI SANTA MARIA CANALE (OR DEI CANALI), piazzetta S. Maria Canale
Year: traditions associated with the origins of the church tell that it was erected in the IX century, even if there is some reference to its existence in a document dating back 1151. Anyway, the church looks like being built previously, since some of the internal capitals date back to around 1040.
Style: this is the only church which has preserved its roman style, even if it has been restored many times.
Notes: the church hosts two important tables recently restored:
- Nativity of the early XVI century ascribed to a Lombard painter coming from the Leonardo Da Vinci School.
- The “Annunciazione” of Giovan Mauro della Rovere, called the Flemish, dating back to around 1617.
BASILICA SANTUARIO DELLA MADONNA DELLA GUARDIA, Corso don Orione
Year: it was Don Luigi Orione that wanted its construction and the first stone was laid and consecrated in October 1926. Actually, works started in April 1928 based on the design of Monsignor Chiapetta and the sanctuary was inaugurated on the 2th of August 1931.
Notes: the very peculiar aspect of the tower is represented by the fact that, at a distance of 60 metres from the ground, it bears the imposing statue of Madonna della Guardia, designed by the sculptor Narciso Cassino, professor of Brera. Planned and wanted by don Orione, the statue is 14 metres high and it is the biggest one made of molten bronze worldwide.
RIVALTA SCRIVIA
ABBAZIA DI SANTA MARIA
Year: the Rivalta abbey represents the sole evidence of the group of abbeys belonging to Cistercian monks, who settled there in 1180. However, its foundation dates back to 1153. The imposing bell tower dates back to the first half of the Sixteenth century.
Style: The plan, the front view and the areas of the monastery which are still preserved confirm it was erected according to Saint Bernard’s Cistercian rules. The church has a cross-Latin shaped plan with nave and two aisles separated by octagonal columns and pilasters.
Notes: The artistic unity of the monastery is no longer evident due to historical transformations which has taken place along the centuries. The most evident among them is the separation between the church, today parish, and the monks’ areas which have become proprietary. The abbey was finally suppressed in 1810 by a Napoleon decree.
VOLPEDO
PIEVE DI SAN PIETRO
Anno:
it was cited for the first time in a parchment paper of 965, kept in the Tortona chapter archives . The original construction dates back to the XI century.
Style: Romanesque. Boundary walls, the façade and the portal were restored in the XV century.
Notes: frescos kept inside dates back to the XV century and can be attributed to five different authors. Two of them have been attributed to the painters Giovanni Quirico da Tortona and Antonius.
VIGUZZOLO
PIEVE DI SANTA MARIA
Anno:
the present building dates back to the XI century around and it seems it was constructed using the material of a more ancient church erected nearby. The crypt, accessible by the right nave, should have been erected after with some more ancient salvage, even if there is no clear evidence of this.
Style: Romanesque. The construction looks simple and well proportionated, with a nave and two aisles, with three semicircular apses (of the right one there is poor evidence) and a double-sloped roof.
Notes: the Pieve hosts a wooden crucifix of the Piedmontese and Lombard schools which dates back to mid XVI century. “Il Cristo” (“The Christ”), recently restored, has a movable head since it rotates on a wood pin present in the neck, originally covered by real beard and hair.
FABBRICA CURONE
Pieve di Santa Maria
Year:The building which dates back to XII-XIII centuries, has been further adapted and enlarged.
Notes: The Pieve of Fabbrica Curone, unlike those of Volpedo and of Viguzzolo, has been constantly served, since it is still a parish church, and today it represents an important reference church among those present in Alta Val Curone. Specific attention must be paid to the bas-relief (made of local stones) of the lunette on the entrance portal representing a complex animal shaped symbology.
