Alice Castello in the Province of Vercelli
The Saint Germain of the Arborata church, documented since the Middle Age, is probably linked to the Germain of Auxerre bishop cult, which has been very deeply rooted in the Vercelli, Ivrea and Aosta dioceses since when, in 488, the body of the saint was carried through the area.
Alice Castello was a very frequented area also in the Longobardic epoch, as testified by some archeologically finds coming from Longobardic warrior graves discovered in the town territories in 1893 and in 1991.
The first written testimony on Alice Castello dates from 962, in a document in which the Emperor Otto I sanctioned the investiture of the Count Aimone of Cavaglià. In the following centuries the history of the village unravels ups and downs, until its incorporation in the Savoy duchy in 1427.
The Parish church, dedicated to Saint Nicolas (Saint Nicholas of Bari) is dated from 1745-1767 and it dominates the landscape. It was built by the architect Francesco Gallo and its façade is made of fired ceramic. It has a longitudinal layout, with two side chapels. In the left one there is a Crucifix from the XVIII century, a precious inner door and four confessionals made of carved wood representing scenes from the Gospels. The 1802 organ belongs to Bruna of Miagliano. The bell tower, definitively older, was built between the end of the XII and the XVI century and it is much less impressive than the church. Its original cuspidal roof is made of hexagonal bricks and is rounded by four parallelepiped pinnacles.
Besides the Parish there is the Church of the Brotherhood of the Immaculate Conception Disciples, dating between XV and XVIII century. Its original façade presents a portal decorated with the bust of an angel surrounded by fruits and surmounted by a mullioned window with three lights which supports a “Syriac” pediment on the side of which there are two angels which carry a crown. Above the triangular frame of the pediment there are more angelic figures. Inside the Parish, above the altar, there is a Virgin and Child, Saints and Disciples, supposedly painted by the Giovenone workshop (XVI century). Behind it there is an Our Lady of the Assumption with disciples.
The hill on which the Parish is built was probably surrounded by an ancient castle of which a few remains are still visible: the entrance arch and parts of the walls, dating back to the XII century, but rearranged several times.
On the road which goes towards Cavaglià there is the Church of the Fabian and Roch Saints, founded in 1585 by the inhabitants to plead for salvation from the plague, where some frescoes of the same period have recently been rediscovered
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