Cappella di San Sebastiano

At the edge of Neive's historic core stands the chapel of San Sebastiano: a small rural oratory existing since the fifteenth century and completely rebuilt in the eighteenth. It faces the gate of the same name, one of the two gates through which the borgo was once entered, guarding both the town's walls and its health.

Why it matters

The chapel preserves two layers of history at the borgo's former gate. The chapel stands with the nearby chapel of San Rocco at one of the historic centre's two former gates. Dedication to Saint Sebastian reflects devotion to the saint as a protector against plague; the pairing with San Rocco marks a tradition of placing chapels at town entrances.

What to notice

The chapel faces the gate of the same name, linking the building with the historic town entrance. Its restrained scale and use of local materials are characteristic of a rural chapel. The present appearance is eighteenth-century, since the medieval oratory was entirely rebuilt, so what you see is a Baroque-era devotional volume with a fifteenth-century story. Inside, the interest is devotional rather than artistic-spectacular, and the chapel reflects a local devotional tradition.

Context and history

The chapel was already in existence in the fifteenth century and was completely rebuilt during the eighteenth century. Its function belongs to a wide early-modern pattern across the Langhe and Monferrato, where saints Sebastian and Roch — the two great plague intercessors — were honoured at town entrances and along roads. Neive's borgo, perched on its hill and repeatedly contested between Alba and Asti in the medieval period, controlled its gates carefully; placing a chapel at each of the two entrances doubled as protection and welcome. The chapel is listed among the commune's places of worship.