Aleramo’s dream

Serralunga di Crea

 

 

In 2003 Unesco added Crea to the World's Heritage List which includes the Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy. It was designed by father Costantino Massino from Vercelli in 1589 and built on top of one of the highest hills of Monferrato (m. 455 above sea level) where there was an ancient castle beforehand. A path made up of 23 chapels with the arrival point on top of the mountain at the Chapel of Mary's Coronation, called Paradise Chapel, which makes the place an extraordinary panoramic point on the surrounding hills and on the alpine chain. The starting point and heart of the Sacred Route immersed in the wood is the sanctuary dedicated to Holy Mary. It has been the favourite destination of devotional pilgrimages since the Middle Ages, but, according to tradition, it is attributed to Sant'Eusebio, Bishop of Vercelli who is said to have brought the three statues of Holy Mary with the Child to Oropa, cagliari and Crea in the fourth century.The church still keeps wonderful fourth-century frescoes by Francesco Spanzotti, known as Maestro di Crea and brother of the more famous Martino, in the Santa Margherita Chapel as well as a nice wooden table representing Mother mary with Child and Saints, made in 1503 by the notable Macrino d'Alba. Once in the original frame you could find the portraits of Guglielmo IX Paleologo, marquis of Monferrato, and of his wife Anna d'Alençon.