Poco fuori il paese di Piozzo, su una collinetta che fa da spartiacque tra la strada che arriva da Carrù e quella da Benevagienna, in quella che un tempo era un'antica via di pellegrinaggio verso Santiago de Compostela, si trova la piccola Cappella di San Bernardo.
Costruita presumibilmente alla fine del 1300 sul basamento di un’antica torre di guardia dell'anno 1000, è un edificio in stile romanico dalle forme architettoniche semplici, con presbiterio e abside rialzati rispetto alla struttura principale e tetto a capriate.
E' dedicata a San Bernardo d’Aosta (o di Mentone), protettore dei viandanti, dei montanari e degli alpinisti, noto per aver costruito l'ospizio dei monaci agostiniani al passo del Gran San Bernardo e realizzata come ringrazioamento ai vari Santi per la protezione avuta in occasione di epidemie, incendi e guerre.
La Cappella di San Bernardo, in pietra irregolare nella parte inferiore e laterizio a vista in quella superiore, ha una facciata eretta solo nel XVII secolo in quanto prima ne era priva.
Di pianta quadrata con abside rotondo l'edificio conserva al suo interno un importante ciclo di affreschi tardogotici datati 1451 che portano la firma di Frater Henricus, probabilmente un frate domenicano, visto i numerosi rimandi all'ordine presenti nei dipindi, che soggiornava in zona.
Nel catino absidale è disegnato il Cristo Pantocratore in una mandorla, circondato dagli angeli e dai simboli degli Evangelisti.
In basso sulla parete dell'abside compaiono, al centro, la Vergine in trono con il Bambino, e, ai lati, una serie di Santi: Santa Caterina da Siena, San Lorenzo, San Pietro, San Bernardo d’Aosta, San Bernardino da Siena ed il martirio di San Sebastiano.
Sull’arco trionfale è riportata una decorazione a scacchiera bianca e nera e teste di santi domenicani, ad inidicare l'appartenenza della cappella a quell'ordine ed sono affrescate scene dell'Annunciazione.
Anche le pareti laterali della Cappella di San Bernardo sono affrescate ed i restauri effettuati hanno riportato alla luce immagini di Santa Caterina d’Alessandria, Sant’Antonio Abate, San Martino e San Michele.
L'opera più notevole sono gli otto pannelli che raffigurano la leggenda del Pellegrino di Compostela, considerata unica nel monregalese, ed il miracolo della forca e dell'impiccato salvato. Questi affreschi ne richiamano altri, più datati e meno curati, presenti nella Cappella di San Giacomo di Prelles, altra tappa del Cammino di Santiago.
La Cappella di San Bernardo fa parte del circuito Chiese a Porte Aperte ed è visitabile gratuitamente con prenotazione tramite apposita app.
San Bernardo Chapel - Piozzo
Just outside the town of Piozzo, on a small hill that forms the watershed between the road that comes from Carrù and the one from Benevagienna, once an ancient pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, there is the small St. Bernardo Chapel.
Built presumably at the end of 1300 on the base of an ancient watch tower dated 1000, it is a building in Romanesque style with simple architectural forms, with a presbytery and apse raised above the main structure and a trussed roof.
It is dedicated to San Bernardo d'Aosta (or Mentone), protector of wayfarers and mountaineers, known for having built the Augustinian monks' hospice at the Gran San Bernardo Pass and fabricated as gratitude to the various Saints for the protection had during epidemics, wars anf fires.
The St. Bernardo Chapel, in irregular stone in the lower part and exposed brick in the upper one, has a facade erected only in the seventeenth century as it was previously without it.
With a square plan and a round apse, the building preserves an important cycle of late Gothic frescoes dated 1451 which bear the signature of Frater Henricus, probably a Dominican friar, considering the numerous references to the order present in the church.
In the apsidal basin is drawn the Christ Pantocrator in an almond, surrounded by the angels and the symbols of the Evangelists.
At the bottom of the apse wall there is, in the center, the Virgin on the throne with the Child , and, on the sides, a series of Saints: St. Catherine of Siena, St. Lawrence, St. Peter, St. Bernard of Aosta, St. Bernardine of Siena and the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian.
On the triumphal arch there is a black and white checkerboard decoration and the heads of Dominican saints, to indicate the belonging of the chapel to that order, and frescoes of the Annunciation.
Also the side walls of the Chapel of San Bernardo are frescoed and the restorations carried out have brought to light images of Santa Caterina d'Alessandria, Sant 'Antonio Abate, San Martino and San Michele.
The most notable work are the eight panels depicting the legend of the Pilgrim of Compostela, considered unique in the Monregalese area, and the miracle of the gallows and the miracle of the hanged man saved. These frescoes recall others, more dated and less well-kept, present in the Chapel of Saint Jacques de Prelles, another step of the Camino de Santiago.
The St. Bernardo Chapel is part of the Chiese a Porte Aperte circuit and can be visited free of charge booking through a special app.
Just outside the town of Piozzo, on a small hill that forms the watershed between the road that comes from Carrù and the one from Benevagienna, once an ancient pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, there is the small St. Bernardo Chapel.
Built presumably at the end of 1300 on the base of an ancient watch tower dated 1000, it is a building in Romanesque style with simple architectural forms, with a presbytery and apse raised above the main structure and a trussed roof.
It is dedicated to San Bernardo d'Aosta (or Mentone), protector of wayfarers and mountaineers, known for having built the Augustinian monks' hospice at the Gran San Bernardo Pass and fabricated as gratitude to the various Saints for the protection had during epidemics, wars anf fires.
The St. Bernardo Chapel, in irregular stone in the lower part and exposed brick in the upper one, has a facade erected only in the seventeenth century as it was previously without it.
With a square plan and a round apse, the building preserves an important cycle of late Gothic frescoes dated 1451 which bear the signature of Frater Henricus, probably a Dominican friar, considering the numerous references to the order present in the church.
In the apsidal basin is drawn the Christ Pantocrator in an almond, surrounded by the angels and the symbols of the Evangelists.
At the bottom of the apse wall there is, in the center, the Virgin on the throne with the Child , and, on the sides, a series of Saints: St. Catherine of Siena, St. Lawrence, St. Peter, St. Bernard of Aosta, St. Bernardine of Siena and the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian.
On the triumphal arch there is a black and white checkerboard decoration and the heads of Dominican saints, to indicate the belonging of the chapel to that order, and frescoes of the Annunciation.
Also the side walls of the Chapel of San Bernardo are frescoed and the restorations carried out have brought to light images of Santa Caterina d'Alessandria, Sant 'Antonio Abate, San Martino and San Michele.
The most notable work are the eight panels depicting the legend of the Pilgrim of Compostela, considered unique in the Monregalese area, and the miracle of the gallows and the miracle of the hanged man saved. These frescoes recall others, more dated and less well-kept, present in the Chapel of Saint Jacques de Prelles, another step of the Camino de Santiago.
The St. Bernardo Chapel is part of the Chiese a Porte Aperte circuit and can be visited free of charge booking through a special app.
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