THE COLLEGIATA

THE COLLEGIATA

The Collegiata reminds us of the glorious past of the medieval village of Triora.

Only few signs remain of the original three-nave church and the bell tower. The portal made up of black and marble stones reminds us of a glorious Christian temple. The ancient neo-classical façade was restored in 1770 by Andrea Notari; unfortunately the traces of black stones and paintings of the Holy Mary, San Giovanni Battista and San Dalmazzo were cancelled. Since 1556 the Collegiata has hosted the local parish that was moved there from the church of San Pietro and Marziano. The Collegiata was reduced to one single nave from 1770 to 1775. Dozens of parishes spread around Triora depended on it.

The finest painting in Triora can be found in its baptistery: the Baptism of Christ, painted in 1397 by Taddeo di Bartolo from Siena. Besides the altar, two fine altarpieces going back to the XV century can be seen: one, the ‘Pietà’, depicts Christ, dead and grieved by the Holy Mary, Maddalena and San Giovanni Battista and the pious women. The other altarpiece has a peculiar history: while being restored in 1949, a pre-existing painting was found under the Ecce Homo that had been added during the XVI century to make the painting more in line with the worship of ‘Anime Purganti’. The pre-existing painting depicted San Giacomo il Minore, son of Alfeo.

The painting called ‘Assunzione’ by Lorenzo Gastaldi (1625-1690) dates back to 1680. It is a perfect copy of the painting by Guido Reni in Sant’Ambrogio Church in Genoa. Above the altar stands an ancient wooden cross by Anton Maria Maragliano, close to the statue of Christ dating back to the XIV century. Triora is particularly devoted to this statue that gets carried to the Monte delle Forche each year, two weeks after Easter, together with the statue of Madonna della Misericordia, sculpted in 1841 by Paolo Olivari from Genoa and the heavy black cross hosted in the nearby oratory.

Other artistic treasures include paintings, a wooden panel and urns containing the relics of San Giovanni da Triora and San Tusco.