Santuario della Beata Vergine Assunta di Crea

The Sanctuary of the Assumption at Crea is the devotional heart of a wooded sacred hill in Monferrato. The church and its venerated image of the Virgin belong to a history of pilgrimage older than the chapels of the surrounding Sacro Monte.

Why it matters

The sanctuary shows how an established Marian shrine could become the centre of a much larger religious landscape. Pilgrimage to Crea is documented from the Middle Ages. The later Sacro Monte translated sacred stories into architecture, painted scenery and sculpture around that existing focus of devotion.

What to notice

The sanctuary's image of the Virgin is a medieval work, generally dated to the thirteenth century. The church should be distinguished from the Chapel of Paradise, which occupies the summit above it. The surrounding complex includes twenty-three chapels and five hermitages, combining religious imagery with the wooded slopes and views of the Monferrato hills.

Context and history

Tradition associates Crea with Saint Eusebius of Vercelli in the fourth century, but this is a devotional account rather than the date of the surviving statue. In 1589 the Lateran prior Costantino Massino initiated the Sacro Monte, taking inspiration from Varallo. Periods of expansion, decline and restoration followed. The complex belongs to the Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2003.