In 1573 the Servite fathers, who had been given this convent to run, began pressing the church authorities to make theirs the town's second parish. A dispute followed that lasted years, against the older church, the one built on the podium, the castle hill. It is the old Italian story of the centre coming down from the hill to the plain.
What to see
The complex is of the first half of the sixteenth century and is in exposed brick, of a plainness that surprises whoever goes in: the interior space is far higher and airier than the front leads you to expect. The Renaissance lunettes and tall windows are the best part, together with the eight side chapels, which in the seventeenth century filled up with marbles, stuccoes and votive offerings.
Under the floor is a crypt that occupies the whole extent of the church: until 1777 people were buried there, and the dead are still in place. In the choir a marble slab recalls the Servites, who stayed in this house for over three centuries, and hides the way down to the vaults. The annexed buildings are today a retirement home.
Visiting
The complex is at Sommariva del Bosco, between Turin and Cuneo; the church opens for services and on particular occasions, while the convent part is occupied by the care home. Half an hour.
Our editors' tip
At the corner of the forecourt stands a square pillar, built with the materials of an older shrine. On its four sides it had as many frescoes by a painter from the town, today almost entirely gone: what remain are the faintest traces, visible only if you take your time and have the right light. Try it; it is an exercise in patience that pays.