St. Columba in Biandrate

What it is and where it is

Let's imagine a small commune surrounded by rice fields. A church that externally has no particular decoration. But then, to the discerning eye, curious decorative terracotta tiles appear and a porticoed atrium where instead it is a veritable explosion of color: these are the 15th-century frescoes of the ancient church of St. Columba. The present church is an almost complete remodeling in the 1600s, of the Romanesque part only the frescoed atrium remains, precisely. Depictions of St. Columba are numerous: the saint is depicted dressed in white with an abbot's staff or with a book and dove. But the relics in the scurolo are of the French bishop St. Serenus!

Why it is special

The church is special because of its artistic aspects but also because of the importance of the place where it stands. In fact, Biandrate, now entirely surrounded by rice fields, was on the route of the so-called "Via Biandrina," a strategic medieval route that crossed directives between Turin, the Vercellese, Novara and Lombardy. But surely this place has a certain importance already in Roman and pre-Roman times: the latest archaeological findings even date back to the Neolithic period. We are then in the 11th century when the Counts of Biandrate, lords of a vast fief between Sesia, Ticino, Ossola and Val Sesia had their castle here and were protagonists of struggles and battles until they completely lost power and prestige.