The Abbey of Vezzolano, Castelnuovo Don Bosco and Chieri
Duration: 8 hours
Languages: IT, EN, DE, FR, ES
The excursion covers an area close to the city of Turin which is still little deployed by mass tourism and hides some extraordinary historical and artistic gems instead.
Our first destination is the beautiful Romanesque Abbey of Our Lady Vezzolano, set among the Monferrato vineyards and preserved until today from any building contamination. Inside we can admire an exceptional work of art as well as pretty rare, namely the JUBE ‘or Nartex. It is a structure aimed at dividing the church into the area reserved for the clergy from that reserved for the people. Most of them were demolished after the Council of Trent (1545-1563), however in Vezzolano it was kept by disregarding such order. The Jubé is completely decorated with painted sandstone sculptures representing the genealogy of Christ and the Dormitio Virginis (Dormition of the Virgin Mary). The fourteenth-century frescoes in the cloister are also extremely well preserved.
Castelnuovo Don Bosco is a few kilometers away from Vezzolano. The name evokes one of the most important religious personalities of the 1800s, namely St. John Bosco, the social saint par excellence as well as founder of the Salesian order, active throughout the world. In addition to the imposing basilica named after Don Bosco, we will visit the small village and the house where he was born and where he spent his childhood with his mother Margherita before entering the seminary in the city of Chieri.
Chieri is also the last destination of our excursion. Known in Roman times as Carreum Potentia, the city of Chieri underwent a strong development during the medieval era especially since the 1400s onwards, when the wood and cotton textile production started, later on implemented by the introduction of moleskin. We will visit the Cathedral and collegiate church of Santa Maria della Scala, the triumphal arch of the Mannerist era and, walking in the historic center, we will admire the beautiful noble palaces built in the Middle Ages, some of which were remodeled in the Baroque era.
Inclusions: Car (or minivan), Guide.
Exclusions: meals, tips and anything not included in the inclusions section.
For detailed programme and reservation write to events@petiteevents.it
