Santi Martiri also known as Chiesa di San Graziano is the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church located on a hill above Piazza San Graziano in the town of Arona,

Province of Novara Novara (It. ''Provincia di Novara'') is a province in the Piedmont region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Novara. In 1992, the new Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola was created through the fusion of three geographical areas which had previou ...

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, Italy.

History

The church was founded adjacent to a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

abbey in the 10th century but was rebuilt over the centuries. The church held custody of the Holy Martyrs, patrons of Arona. The present church has a Baroque façade added by the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

, who were assigned the church and monastery by Cardinal

Carlo Borromeo Charles Borromeo ( it, Carlo Borromeo; la, Carolus Borromeus; 2 October 1538 – 3 November 1584) was the Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584 and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was a leading figure of the Counter-Reformation combat ...

in 1572 and remained till their suppression in 1773. The interior retains gothic elements of architecture and consists of a single nave with four lateral chapels. The fresco decoration was added between 1850 and 1852. The main altar has a 15th-century painting depicting an ''Enthroned Madonna between Angels and Saints'' by

Ambrogio da Fossano Ambrogio Borgognone (variously known as ''Ambrogio da Fossano'', ''Ambrogio di Stefano da Fossano'', ''Ambrogio Stefani da Fossano'' or as ''il Bergognone'' or ''Ambrogio Egogni''

, called il Bergognone. The church also has a painting by

Palma il Giovane Iacopo Negretti (1548/50 – 14 October 1628), best known as Jacopo or Giacomo Palma il Giovane or simply Palma Giovane ("Young Palma"), was an Italian painter from Venice and a notable exponent of the Venetian school. After Tintoretto's death ...

. The altar has bas reliefs depicting the four Martyrs, whose relics are sheltered here. The relics of Graziano and Felino were brought here from Perugia in 979, and those of Fedele and Carpoforo were brought from

Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label=Comasco dialect, Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and ...

in 1200. During the 16th century, Cardinal Borromeo decided to move the relics to the church of San Fedele in Milan. However, protests by the people of Arona forced their restitution on 13 March 1576. That date is a local holiday called "Tredicino".Comune of Arona
tourist entry on church.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martiri Arona Churches in the province of Novara Baroque architecture in Piedmont Gothic architecture in Piedmont 10th-century churches in Italy Buildings and structures in Arona, Piedmont