Mondovì Piazza

San Fiorenzo Chapel

Partisan Memorial

San Giacomo rally road

BonaparteMuseum

Santuariodi Vicoforte

Sanctuary of Vicoforte

The Santuario di Vicoforte to honour the Virgin Mary is a monumental church located in the commune of Vicoforte, province of Cuneo, Piedmont, northern Italy. It is known for having the largest elliptical cupola in Europe.

[edit] HistoryIt originated as a small medieval sanctuary, consisting of a modest shrine containing a fifteenth-century fresco depicting a Madonna and Child. Around 1590 a shooting party passed by and a huntsman accidentally struck the image of the Virgin. According to legend, she began to bleed. The penitent huntsman added his arquebus to the shrine and began to collect the large sum of money which would be needed to repair the damage and expiate his sin. Today the arquebus is preserved in a chapel of the sanctuary near the fresco which it had disfigured.

In time the place became a centre of pilgrimage. An early visitor was the duke Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy who, in 1596, commissioned the construction of a large sanctuary from the court architect Ascanio Vitozzi. However the death of both the duke (who had wanted to be buried here), and of the architect, put a stop to the building work.

Construction was resumed in the eighteenth century under Francesco Gallo who built the great elliptical cupola which has major and minor diameters of 36 metres and 25 metres respectively. It is said that Gallo was required to remove the scaffolding himself, as nobody thought that a structure of this type would be able to stand on its own.

The decoration in fresco of the 6,032 square metres of the cupola’s vault was completed in 1752 by Mattia Bortoloni and Felice Biella, and the sanctuary finally attained its current form in 1884, when the campanili were built along with the three façades.

Coordinates: 44°22'00?N 7°51'00?E? / ?44.366667°N 7.85°E? / 44.366667; 7.85

San Fiorenzo chapel in Bastia- not usually opened, visitable upon request (for free)

Built between the XI and XII century, the chapel with a single chamber with wooden trussed vaulting is one of the best examples of international Gothic style in the Piedmont area. The most extensive and famous painting cycle of the entire Mondovì zone being conserved here, with over 326 square metres of frescoes dated 1472. Although the identification of the person who commissioned the work is known, being Bonifacio della Torre, the actual fresco painters are unknown, although what is known is that they were influenced by the Jacquerio, and Canavesio schools and by Provençal painting style, thereby providing as with a rare example of crude realism and delicate chromatic effect.

A PICTORIAL ANTHOLOGYThe chapel of Bastia features all the main subject matter of 15th century art of the Maritime Alps area; such as the “Celestial Jerusalem”, the “Works of Mercy”, the “Hell” and the “Cavalcade of vices”, as well as “The life of Christ”, the stories of St. Antonio Abate and the miracles of St. Fiorenzo. In the work depicting the celestial joy of the mother of Christ, this joy could not have been expressed in any other way but in an orchestration of melodies and hymns by musical angels. The presence of all the musical instruments played at that time thereby symbolized the idea of a great celebration, therefore the Assumption scene features a range of instruments in the hands of the angels including: the psaltery, organ, cymbals, lyre, harp, trumpet, lute, “Ghironda” (an ancient cord instrument) and viola.

Partisan Memorial

Inaugurated in 1947 this Partisan Memorial keep the rest of many italian and foreigner guys that partecipated to the liberation war. Built on the top of an hill, from this place is possible to see the Alps from the Marittime to the Monte Rosa. Magnificent wiew.The building is not usually opened for visit but the place is reacheble in any time.

Bonaparte Museum in Mombasiglio

Situated in the Mombasiglio castle, the museum is constituted by a collection of prints and acqua fortis on Napoleon’s First Italian campaign by the architect, topographer and viewer Giuseppe Pietro Bagetti, and commissioned directly by the leader to celebrate his first military victories. Thanks to the presence of didactic material, models and plastics, the museum gives the visitor an ample panoramic view on the Napoleonic period.This museum is hinged on the figure of General Bonaparte and the battles fought during the first Campaign of Italy in 1796; it contains 44 copperplates, precious collections of uniforms, model soldiers in lead and tin, articles, busts and weapons.

The Castle is opened from monday to friday from 15.00 to 17.00

Roads of Rally di San Giacomo

The International rally of San Giacomo di Roburent was quite important in the ‘70.Many Fulvia HF and Stratos was involved in competition in that roads.