The church of the Madonna della Stella owes its name to pilgrims: the site, perhaps already given to Marian devotion at the start of the tenth century, was taken up again as a branch of the road to Santiago, letting travellers coming from Lombardy bypass Turin and head straight into the Susa valley.
What to see
The presbytery is from the early fifteenth century, the rest was finished in 1474, and the paintings were commissioned by the Provana, lords of Collegno. On the vault webs are scenes of the Dormition of Mary; other frescoes belong to the school of Giacomo Jaquerio, the same painter you find in the nearby pieve of San Pietro.
Visiting
The church stands on the street that carries its name and is seen together with the other two in Pianezza, all a short distance apart. It is small, and what matters is to look up at the vaults.
Our editors' tip
On 12 September 1714 the community made a vow to the Madonna della Stella for having been delivered from an epidemic, perhaps of influenza. Since then she has been the patron of Pianezza and the feast falls on that day: the date on the town's calendar comes from that vow.