Cathedral of Maria Vergine Assunta

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Diocesi di Saluzzo ( sec. XV )

Piazza Garibaldi, 1 - 12037 Saluzzo (CN)

The pieve of Santa Maria is first documented in 1175. Erected on the flat area outside the walls, it was elevated to collegiate church in 1483. However, the necessary renovation to adapt the building to cover a prestigious role in the city in particular, and more generally in the Marquisate of Saluzzo, was not commenced until 1491. The work was completed in 1501, and was followed by the establishment of the Diocese of Saluzzo on 29 October 1511, sealing the success of the religious policy of the marquises, supported in Rome by Popes Sixtus IV and Julius II. The first quarter of the 16th century was marked by lavish decoration, with masterpieces by Hans Clemer, Aimo and Balzarino Volpi, and the Sanmicheli family. Subsequently the constant renovation of the cathedral generated a flow of important works such as the altarpiece of the Adoration of the Shepherds by Sebastiano Ricci. The interior, with its majestic nave and two aisles covered by cross vaults, was entirely decorated in Neogothic style between 1850 and 1855 by the Saluzzo painters Luigi and Francesco Gauteri. The decorative scheme and flamboyant ornamentation are a tribute to the figurative culture that characterized the commissions of the Savoy court, and frame the high altar made between 1721 and 1724 by order of Bishop Morozzo, decorated with 11 imitation marble sculptures by Plura.

The majestic wooden crucifix attributed to the carver Baldino da Surso – the sole surviving piece of the furnishings of the pieve of Santa Maria – is suspended from the triumphal arch of the chancel, which is raised and separated from the nave by a balustrade. The chapel of the Holy Sacrament, along the left aisle, was commenced in 1700 by Mons. Morozzo, commemorated in the funerary monument by the sculptor Carlo Tantardini, and was restored in 1862 to the design of Edoardo Arborio Mella. Today it houses the polyptych of the Marquises of Saluzzo and opens onto the smaller chapel of Relics. According to a document dated 1729, the head and many parts of the body of Saint Chiaffredo, initially the patron of the Marquisate and subsequently also of the Diocese, are preserved in the Holy Sacrament altar. The head of Saint Chiaffredo, transferred to the cathedral from Revello in 1642, is now housed in the precious reliquary attributed to the goldsmith Antonio Benedetto Caire, and displayed for veneration on occasion of the saint’s feast day, on the first Sunday of September and also in the event of calamities. Saints Chiaffredo and Constantius have been venerated in the Saluzzo area since medieval times. According to tradition, the two martyrs were soldiers of the Theban Legion who escaped the massacre at Agaunum in the 3rd century AD, fleeing to the Saluzzo Valleys to preach the Gospel. Killers sent by the Emperor Diocletian found and slaughtered them: Chiaffredo was martyred in Crissolo, in the Upper Po Valley, and Constantius at the entrance to the Maira Valley, marked by the church of San Costanzo al Monte.