The church of Santa Maria Assunta is the main place of worship in Vigliano Biellese and stands in piazza Chiesa, at the centre of the village. It was built between the eleventh and twelfth centuries, Romanesque and with three naves, and kept that form until the early fifteenth century; the seventeenth century turned it baroque, with side altars, a new apse and new chapels, and the following century brought the facade.
What to see
The facade is baroque and gabled, with a portico in front: at the centre a serliana on two Tuscan columns, at the sides two segmental arches, and below the three doorways. Above, four Corinthian pilasters divide the front into three bands: an oval rose window at the centre, and at the sides two niches with terracotta statues of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. On the left rises the Romanesque bell tower, square in plan, with a two-light window on each side and an octagonal spire flanked by four pinnacles.
Visiting
Inside, three naves are separated by four round arches per side on fluted Doric marble columns; above the arches runs a frescoed band with floral motifs. The central nave has a lunetted barrel vault without bays, the side ones cross vaults. The apse, rectangular and as tall as the nave, is covered by a frescoed sail vault; the presbytery is raised and ringed by a marble balustrade, with the baroque high altar of the late eighteenth century and, along the walls, the wooden choir stalls by Gaspare Serra.
Our editors' tip
Before going in, look at the outside wall. It was here that on 31 August 1944 the Nazi-Fascists shot four civilians and five partisans taken from the prison of Biella: the oldest church in the village is also where Vigliano keeps its most recent memory. The organ, on the gallery over the entrance, is new by contrast, built in 2007 by the firm Dell'Orto and Lanzini.