Chiesa di San Desiderio

Beautiful ! To be seen ...

Quiet place

San Desiderio, in dialect is called "Sant’Ižè" (although the Piedmontese denomination of the hamlet does not correspond to the dialectal name of the titular saint, which is San Sidèri but rather seems to refer to San Eusebio). The church, apparently quite anonymous, offers some surprises. Perhaps it was initially the church of a Benedictine monastery called del Monticello (or del Bricco), in a beautiful position, overlooking the valley, abandoned around 1300. In 1581 the old church of Monticello was ruined; three years later another building was being built on the site where the current building is located; in 1599 the baptistery was placed. In 1720 it was decided to build a new church, starting from the bell tower, which was finished in 1723 (on the outer side is the date "1722" on a sandstone ashlar). From 1740 to 1751 the actual church was rebuilt, which was blessed in 1753. The facade is neoclassical with a higher central element, corresponding to the main nave, completed by a triangular tympanum. The door is surmounted by a lunette with the image of St. Desiderius bishop and an oculus. In the church are preserved paintings already reported in 1714 in the previous one, depicting the Virgin and Child venerated by the Ss. Desiderio and Pietro, from the school of the Caccia, the Madonna del Rosario with Ss. Domenico and Caterina da Siena, the Madonna with Child and the SS .Antonio, Rocco and Liberata. There is also a wooden Crucifix by Eugenio Guglielminetti.