Chiesa di Santa Chiara

Santa Chiara grew from the Poor Clares' convent on the Via ad Planum, its church drawn in 1708 by a young Francesco Gallo and built from 1712. Money ran short and the vaults, dome and bell tower were lowered from the plans, yet the finished church counts among Gallo's best work, notable for coloured plaster instead of his usual brick.

Why it matters

The church documents two departures at once. For the Poor Clares, present in Mondovì since the 14th century, it replaced a modest conventual setting with one of the rione's most refined sacred spaces. For Gallo, it marked an experiment: where his Mondovì churches typically show bare brick, here he chose coloured plaster and pushed dynamic lines, giving the façade and interior a softer, more painted character. The building also holds one of the strangest details in the city's religious architecture, a crypt carried on a large mushroom-shaped pillar, and its faux-marble columns conceal tiny landscapes and fantasy figures painted into the imitation stone.

What to notice

The coloured-plaster façade with dynamic lines marks Gallo's departure from the exposed brick of his other Mondovì works. Faux-marble painting on the columns and pilasters incorporates small landscapes and figures. Beneath the church, a crypt has a large mushroom-shaped pillar supporting the vault. The convent complex behind and above it was built from 1668, partly to a design by Fossano architect Boetto, also associated with the Chiesa della Missione. The lowered vaults, dome and bell tower reflect the financial constraints under which master builder Francesco De Bernardi of Lugano completed the works in 1724.

Context and history

The Clarisse congregation had been established in Mondovì since the 14th century, and their convent on the Via ad Planum was rebuilt from 1668, partly to designs by Boetto. As the community flourished, a dedicated church was added against the convent's right flank: Gallo drew it in 1708, works began in 1712, and the building was finished in 1724 under Francesco De Bernardi of Lugano. Shortfalls in funding forced reductions against the original design, with lower vaults, a smaller dome and a lower bell tower, but the outcome is still regarded as one of Gallo's finest churches and a distinctive statement of Piedmontese baroque. The church occupies the historic Via ad Planum, between the Belvedere walls and Piazza Maggiore.