Chiesa di Santa Maria

The church of Santa Maria in La Morra's namesake hamlet preserves fragments of the area's medieval religious history. Rebuilt in 1888, it incorporates Romanesque stonework from the earlier church and an 1886 ex-voto associated with a cholera scare.

Why it matters

The church served the rural community of the plateau before the modern vineyard landscape developed. Its rebuilding in the nineteenth century preserves the changing fortunes and tastes of the Langhe, while the surviving medieval fragments and votive painting retain traces of earlier parish life.

What to notice

Romanesque carved stones are set into the rebuilt façade, where they contrast with the surrounding nineteenth-century masonry. Inside, an 1886 ex-voto painting commemorates the community's deliverance during a cholera epidemic. The simple church and its setting reflect the agricultural scale of the hamlet.

Context and history

A church at Santa Maria in Plaustra is documented by 1200 and served the scattered rural community. The medieval building was replaced in 1888, while Romanesque fragments were incorporated into the new façade. An ex-voto from 1886 records a local response to the cholera epidemic.