The bell tower is the first thing you notice: small, with terracotta inserts set into the masonry and a shallow dome covered with ceramic tiles, the material Albisola has been working for centuries. The church of the Madonna del Carmine was built towards the end of the eighteenth century at Luceto, one of the outlying districts of Albisola Superiore, along via della Chiappa. It is a village church, built to serve the people who lived there, and it has never claimed to be anything else.
What to see
The interior is plain by design: a single nave, a cross vault, walls without decoration. There is no fresco cycle to look for and no gallery of paintings to work through: you see the architecture for what it is, which makes it far easier to read than churches crowded with furnishings.
The one furnishing that stands out is a wooden statue of the Virgin from the early nineteenth century. Outside, the bell tower gives more back: the terracotta inserts give rhythm to the masonry, and the shallow dome with its ceramic tiles is a local signature. The building has been restored in recent years.
Visiting
Luceto lies outside the centre of Albisola Superiore, and the church is reached from via della Chiappa. It keeps no museum hours: like every church in a small district, it opens mainly for services, and outside those times you will often find it shut. To see the inside, ask at the parish first; either way the visit is a short one.
Our editors' tip
We suggest looking at it from outside before going in, walking round until the bell tower stands clear against the sky: the ceramic tiles take the light differently from the terracotta and the plaster, and that is the one point where this church says where it comes from. Then, if the door is open, ten minutes are enough for the statue of the Virgin.