MONUMENTAL CHURCH OF SAN GAUDENZIO IN BACENO
** TIMES FOR VISITING THE CHURCH
From Monday to Saturday:
morning, from 09.00 to 12.00 afternoon, from 15.00 to 17.30
Sunday and holidays:
morning, from 09.00 to 10.15 afternoon, from 14.30 to 17.15
For group visits with a guide, arrange by calling 0324 / 62045 – (Elena, Albergo Vecchio Scarpone, tel. 0324 62023 for booking guided tours).
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
The first documents that testify to the existence of a primitive chapel date back to the early 1000s. In fact, Bascapè, bishop of Novara from 1593 to 1615, in his book "Novaria Sacra", highlights a document about the existence in Baceno of a "cappellam" donated to the canons of S. Maria di Novara by Gualberto, bishop of Novara from 1032 to 1039.
The rectangular chapel was located where the presbytery is currently located. Built in Lombard Romanesque, it was dedicated to S. Gaudenzio, the first bishop of Novara (337-417).
The first expansion dates back to between the 12th and 13th centuries. Since there was not enough space, the orientation was changed, north-south, building the part that is now the central nave (including the two aisles) and the Romanesque façade between the two pilasters.
In 1326, where the access to the original chapel was located, the cleric Signebaldo de Baceno son of Giacomo erected the chapel of the Madonna.
As Christianity spread more and more among the people of Antigorio, the need was felt for a new expansion and embellishment of the church with the addition of the current side naves.
The occasion was given in 1486 by the marriage of Bernardino de Baceno, imperial vassal of Antigorio and Formazza, with the noblewoman Ludovica Trivulzio, daughter of Antonio Trivulzio, representative of the Duke of Milan in Ossola.
Towards the end of the 15th century, work began on the construction of the side naves, thus highlighting the Gothic style, and at the same time the frescoes were painted, which were completed only in 1542 with the large Crucifixion on the right wall of the presbytery. Starting from the last decade of the 16th century, as a consequence of the new norms dictated by the Council of Trent, the interior of the church was subjected to new interventions that significantly modified its structure, with the consequent result that the Baroque was added to the Romanesque and Gothic.