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Trivero (Biella)- Sanctuary of the Virgin of the Moorland
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Show to visit in the Biella area: |
 The sanctuary, whose full name is "Shrine of Our Lady of the Moor", and that is located at a height of about 800m, consists of two buildings of very different size: the Old Church (photo 1 and 2), not much bigger than a chapel and just made more impressive by the presence of a small porch at the entrance, and the Great Church (all other pictures), of later construction and significantly larger.
The Old Church was built in the sixteenth century, on the site where, according to religious tradition, the Virgin appeared to a young dumb shepherdess, giving her the power of speech.
The building consists of a small oratory, with elongated plant and with a small porch at the entrance enclosed on one side. The inside of the porch and the facade are decorated with various frescoes.
The altar area is separated from the rest of the church by a wrought iron gate. Above the small altar, there is in a marble niche the wooden statue of Mary, called "Our Lady of the Moor".
The ceiling of the nave is decorated with simple frescoes, as well as the apse ceiling.
The Great Church has instead a structure that makes it much more impressive, although in reality it is not much longer than the other, but wider and especially higher. The building has in fact the proportions of a large house and the total absence of external decorations causes that, at least from certain angles, it is difficult to be recognized as a church.
The interior, comprising a central nave and two side naves, is in strong contrast with the outside, since it is completely covered with frescoes and decorations characterized by bright colors and strong color contrasts. The vaulted ceilings, in particular, were richly frescoed by the artist Pietro Lace of Andorno (1648/1733, which the same artist who painted the frescoes on the ceiling of the Church of San Giovanni in Veglio) and can be admired in their original condition, since they remained unchanged over the centuries.
The Great Church of the Sanctuary of the Moor in Trivero is indeed one of the best examples of seventeenth Biella Baroque.
Among the works of art presente in the church, the most important one is the painting above the main altar, the seventeenth-century painting depicting the "Adoration of the Shepherds", considered among the best works of the painter Gian Giacomo cremasco Barbelli, a painting that already in 1661 defined "work elegant, delicate et invaluable".
The canvas is embedded and supported by an imposing eighteenth-century wooden altarpiece, painted by local artists, restored in 2005 with the contribution and support of the DocBi.
Entering, in the left aisle, you can furthermore find the characteristic and largest Biella ex voto, depicting the "Battle" between the people of Mosso and the ones of Trivero for the possession of the Ancient Church (during this battle many shots of gunfire were fired, but, miraculously, nobody was hurt!)
Further pictures of the Sanctuary of the Moorland in Trivero
Categories: Places of historical value of artistic value
1 Frazione Brughiera, Trivero, BI 13835 |
Sanctuary of the Virgin of the Moorland: Further pictures in the section Photography |