The church of San Secondo di Magnano is built in a wide open space near the Serra d'

Ivrea Ivrea (; ; ; ) is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. Situated on the road leading to the Aosta Valley (part of the medieval Via Francigena), it straddles the Dora Baltea and is ...

, not far from the Bose monastic community, in the comune (''municipality'') of

Magnano Magnano is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Biella in the Italy, Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about south of Biella. Magnano borders the following municipalities: Bollengo, Cerrione, Palazzo Cana ...

, Italy. It is one of the most interesting examples of

Romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe that was predominant in the 11th and 12th centuries. The style eventually developed into the Gothic style with the shape of the arches providing a simple distinction: the Ro ...

in the Provincia di Biella and the

Canavese Canavese ( French: ''Canavais''; Piedmontese: ''Canavèis'') is a subalpine geographical and historical area of North-West Italy which lies today within the Metropolitan City of Turin in Piedmont. Its main town is Ivrea and it is famous for its c ...

History and architecture

There used to be an older, small church on the site of today's San Secondo. This church was probably built by the

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

s. In the first half of the 11th century the structure was raised and enlarged up to its current size. The architecture is typically Romanesque, with a projecting façade. The inside of the church is divided into a nave and two aisles by rectangular

pillar A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

s with round arch; the ceiling is a

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as Beam (structure), beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so ...

. The central nave and the left aisle end both with an apse with a small window. The right aisle's apse has probably been demolished to make room for the bell tower, an elegant structure with mullioned windows in its upper section. At the bottom of the right aisle, on the bell tower's wall, there is a

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

from the 13th or 14th century, representing a ''Crucifixion with the Virgin and Saint John''. The church was originally built in the ancient hamlet of Magnano, but at the end of the 14th century the village moved to Magnano's current location. At the beginning of the 17th century the parish church was moved to the new church of ''Santa Marta'' and there was no reason to preserve the old Romanesque building, so it was decided, in 1606, to demolish San Secondo in order to use its materials to build the new church. Devotees, however, objected successfully to this decision. Baroque decorations were added. During the 19th century the church was abandoned again. In 1968 the

Province of Vercelli The province of Vercelli () is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Piedmont region of Italy. Its capital is Vercelli. , it has an area of and a total population of some 176,000. It is an area known for the cultivation of rice. Main sights ...

decided to restore the building, with its original Romanesque appearance.

Gallery

File:Magnano San Secondo 01.JPG, Belltower and right side File:Magnano San Secondo 02.jpg, Belltower and apse File:Magnano San Secondo 06.jpg, The apse

Bibliography

* Comunità monastica di Bose (a cura della) ''La Serra: Chiese Romaniche'', edizioni Qiqajon, 1999

References

{{coord, 45.4662, N, 8.0114, E, source:wikidata, display=title Churches in the province of Biella 14th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Magnano

History and architecture

Gallery

Bibliography

See also

References