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Lenta (Vercelli, Italy): Church of Santa Marta
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 The Church of Santa Marta or, more properly, the Church of the confraternity of Santa Marta, is located next to the Parish church of San Pietro, touching its north side.
It was built around 1569 on the land of the monastery but slightly detached from the cloister, after the nuns of the Benedictine monastery of San Pietro had moved to Vercelli. Its consecration took place in 1597.
In 1764 the choir was rebuilt, in 1886 the vault and in 1895 the dome of the bell tower was rebuilt in cement, only to be restored to its original state after a short time, with a normal tiled roof.
The church has an elongated shape and is located against the monastery castle, so that only the left side is visible. The masonry is in exposed brick and river pebbles, except for the facade, which is plastered but not painted and it would not even seem completely finished, given the presence of two rectangular niches and an space for a plaque, all threee empty. The only decoration is the entrance door in carved solid wood.
The bell tower is located immediately to the right of the facade, as if to extend it on that side.
The interior has a single nave, with a barrel vault with lunettes enriched by neoclassical decorations. On the left side there is a window in each lunette, which corresponds to a painted window on the opposite side.
The side walls are marked by pilasters and the ceiling is separated from the side walls by a thick entablature.
The balustrade that separates the presbytery from the nave and the altar, surmounted by a semicircular aedicule enriched by statues, with that of Christ at the apex, are in polychrome marble, both built in 1836. On the sides, the altar has extensions with passages that reach up to the side walls, so that the choir is divided from the presbytery.
The choir has a polygonal shape and is very deep (Fig. 2). The lower part of the choir is occupied by wooden stalls arranged in two rows.
The walls are enriched by three large canvases in elaborate carved and gilded wooden frames. The one in the center depicts Santa Marta (Fig. 5).
Categories: Places of historical value of artistic value
Via Giovanni XXIII, 2, 13035 Lenta VC |
Further pictures of Church of Santa Marta in the section Photography |