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Casale Monferrato - Crea Sanctuary on foot - return to Casale by mountain bike

The German-language television series "Treasures of the World - Heritage of Humanity" - which I highly recommend - is dedicated to short film clips featuring UNESCO World Heritage sites from all continents and eras. This includes the "Sacri Monti" in northern Italy (there are eight of these "Sacred Mountains" in Piedmont, and a ninth in Lombardy), which are presented to culture-loving viewers in a 15-minute segment. This can be accessed in the ARD Media Library at the following link =>> https://www.ardmediathek.de/video/schaetze-der-welt/heilige-berge-in-piemont-italien-folge-396/3sat/Y3JpZDovL3N3ci5kZS84ODgxMzc2

On the top of a hill immersed in a splendid landscape of vineyards, stands the Sacro Monte di Crea, founded in 1589. Inspired by the Sacro Monte di Varallo, it was born as a pilgrimage destination and today it is an enchanting place, perfect for walking among the greenery of the protected nature reserve. Along the route you will encounter 23 chapels and 5 hermitages, among which the evocative chapel of Paradise, dedicated to the Coronation of Mary, stands out. From here, your gaze is lost in a breathtaking panorama that embraces the Alpine chain and the surrounding rolling hills.

In the heart of Monferrato, on the top of a hill surrounded by a wonderful wine-growing landscape, stands the Sacro Monte di Crea, founded in 1589 on the initiative of Costantino Massino, Lateran prior of the Sanctuary of the Madonna Assunta. Costantino Massino proposed building a religious itinerary inspired by the Sacro Monte di Varallo, to encourage prayer and meditation and to renew the Marian devotion linked to the Sanctuary, a pilgrimage destination of considerable importance since the 11th century. The strong bond between the sanctuary and the ruling dynasty in Monferrato made the duke, the nobility, the high clergy and the local communities participate in the enterprise. In the first phase of the history of the Sacro Monte, which ended around 1657, important artists also active in the Sacri Monti of Orta, Varallo and Varese worked there, including Moncalvo, the Prestinari and the de Wespin, authors of the spectacular sculptural complex of the Chapel of Paradise (c. 23), created in the years between 1604 and 1612. During the 18th century, the Sacro Monte gradually fell into a state of abandonment and, between 1796 and 1801, the incursions of the French revolutionary troops contributed to the ruin of many structures, statues and frescoes. For several decades, the Sacro Monte was abandoned and only in 1820 a community of Franciscan friars, who had become responsible for the Sanctuary, began to restore some buildings. In 1885, a systematic restoration campaign began, supported by the bishop of Milan Nazari di Calabiana and destined to last until the 1920s. During this phase, in which some buildings were built from scratch, the famous symbolist sculptor Leonardo Bistolfi intervened in chapel 16, modeling the statues of the Ascent to Calvary. (c) https://www.sacrimonti.org/it/sacro-monte-di-crea

The interior of the Sanctuary/basilica is stupendous and this altar confirms it. Inside there are also some relics.

Ascent to the sacred mountain of crea

The origin of the place is probably due to Sant'Eusebio: according to tradition, it was Arduino, the King of Italy, who at the beginning of the 11th century wanted a church, probably built on a fairly small scale, supplemented by a monastery where the Augustinian canons of Vezzolano (Asti) settled. They were succeeded in 1483, after a brief intermezzo of the Servites, by the monks of the Lateran. It is to the presence of these men of great cultural and artistic sensitivity, as well as a solid religious education, that we owe the development of Crea, also favoured by the Lords of Monferrato, the Paleologi. After the Palaeologus dynasty had disappeared, Monferrato passed to the Gonzagas in 1536 and the most radical restructuring was carried out that gave the monumental complex its definitive Baroque architectural stamp. The "Holy Mount", sought by Costantino Massimo in 1589, it was built near the sanctuary. Originally it must have had forty-three chapels and seventeen hermitages: the whole was reduced to twenty-three chapels and five hermitages, decorated with frescoes and works by artists of the time, including Moncalvo. The chapel dedicated to the Coronation of the Virgin Mary, or of Paradise, has a round shape and stands on the top of the mountain, on the site of a fourteenth-century castle called "Castrum Cretae", from which the name Crea. After being plundered during military raids, in 1801 the sanctuary was destroyed, in 1809 the church and the monastery were auctioned. In 1820 the sanctuary was entrusted to the Franciscan Friars Minor who guarded it for 170 years, gradually restoring it to its original splendor. Since 1992 it has been entrusted to the priests of the diocese of Casale Monferrato. More info at https://archeocarta.org/serralunga-di-crea-al-santuario-madonna-di-crea/

The Sacro Monte di Crea is located on one of the highest hills of Monferrato, near Serralunga di Crea. A path winds along the slope that leads to the Marian sanctuary and in a wood of oaks and ash trees, it climbs among the roughness of a friable rocky ground until it reaches the chapel of Paradise, located at the top of the hill.