Santuario di San Leone Magno

On the bare hill that separates Manta from Saluzzo stands the sanctuary of the town's patron, a Romanesque chapel whose twelfth-century apse still carries traces of medieval painting under later whitewash. No longer a parish, it fills again every late August for the feast of the pope elected protector of this commune in 1800.

Why it matters

San Leone Magno is among Manta's earliest parishes, alongside San Giacomo. Its apse and ogival windows date its core to the twelfth century. The sanctuary also preserves traditions of ex-votos and reported healings, as well as the town council's decision in 1800 to choose Leo the Great as protector against hail and cattle epidemics.

What to notice

The apse is the oldest part of the structure, with ogival windows marking the Romanesque core. Its basin preserves Romanesque fresco fragments beneath later whitewash. A 1422 Annunciation appears on the left wall and resembles the Annunciation at Santa Maria del Monastero. The brick vault and small cupola above the presbytery date from 1604, after the earlier carved wooden ceiling collapsed.

Context and history

The sanctuary was one of Manta's earliest parishes, recorded with San Giacomo and the now-vanished San Nicolao. Its parish role ended in 1528, when it was united to the mensa capitolare of Saluzzo, yet the building never fell out of use: it remained a favoured place of worship, and marriages are still celebrated here. Its fame as a shrine grew on attributed healings, which drew such crowds that the authorities had to intervene to control the gatherings; for a time the bishop ordered the feast day moved each year. On 6 September 1800, after years of hailstorms and cattle epidemics, the town council chose Leo the Great as protector of Manta and its surroundings and vowed an annual mass in his honour. The patronal feast falls on the last Sunday of August, with a solemn mass and blessing.