The church known in Casale Monferrato as Santa Caterina stands in Piazza Castello and is in fact called Santa Maria delle Grazie: the name in use comes from the Dominican nuns of Santa Caterina, to whom it belonged. The community had been born in 1471 as a group of tertiaries, and on 6 July 1528 the Marchioness Anne d'Alençon gave it the marquises' palace. Today's church dates from the early eighteenth century: the inner hall, reserved for the nuns, is recorded as finished in 1715; the outer one, facing the square, was consecrated in 1726 by Monsignor Radicati. The design is attributed to Giovanni Battista Scapitta, of Moncalvo, architect to the duchy of Montferrat.
What to see
Outside you notice the large dome and the façade in two orders, slightly curved, with pilaster strips and columns that come forward near the portal, projecting cornices and a moulded pediment at the top. A stucco decoration of acanthus leaves shapes the two storeys; behind rises the drum, on which the dome with its small lantern rests.
The interior is a Greek cross, and frescoes cover its walls entirely. Up to the cornice the work is by Giovanni Carlo Aliberti, who painted saints and allegories of the Virtues; the drum and the dome are by the painters Benaschi and Vittore. The high altar of polychrome marbles and the statue of the Virgin of the Assumption were made in 1780 by the sculptor Giovan Battista Bernero.
Visiting
The church belongs to the Collegio Convitto Municipale Trevisio. In the nineties it had been closed to the public because of difficulties in running and maintaining it; since 2010 the Associazione Santa Caterina Onlus has looked after its opening and ordinary maintenance, and it is the body to ask for days and times.
Our editors' tip
It is worth knowing, before you go in, that there are two halls: the outer one, for the faithful, and the inner one, also called the Nuns' Choir, the private place of prayer of the religious, linked directly to Palazzo Trevisio, which was the core of the convent. The division answered the rules for enclosed convents laid down by the Council of Trent.
