350px, View of the sanctuary. The Sacred Mountain of Belmonte (Italian: ''Sacro Monte di Belmonte'') is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

devotional complex in the ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' of Valperga, in the

Metropolitan City of Turin The Metropolitan City of Turin (; Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ''sità metropolitan-a 'd Turin'') is a Metropolitan cities of Italy, metropolitan city in the Piedmont region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Turin. It replaced the prov ...

(

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

northern Italy Northern Italy (, , ) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. The Italian National Institute of Statistics defines the region as encompassing the four Northwest Italy, northwestern Regions of Italy, regions of Piedmo ...

). It is one of the nine Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy, included in

UNESCO World Heritage World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by int ...

list.

Description

It was built in 1712 at the initiative of the Friar Minor Michelangelo da Montiglio. After interruptions, building work on the

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

was resumed in 1759 and in 1825. The complex is located in

Canavese Canavese ( French: ''Canavais''; Piedmontese: ''Canavèis'') is a subalpine geographical and historical area of North-West Italy which lies today within the Metropolitan City of Turin in Piedmont. Its main town is Ivrea and it is famous for its c ...

and is dedicated to the Mysteries of the

Rosary The Rosary (; , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), formally known as the Psalter of Jesus and Mary (Latin: Psalterium Jesu et Mariae), also known as the Dominican Rosary (as distinct from other forms of rosary such as the ...

; it comprises a church (

Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

) and several chapels. The chapels are built at set intervals: the details of their construction, the shapes and the embellishment used are often identical, which suggest that they are the work of a single anonymous

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

External links

Sacro Monte di Belmonte

Official web site for European Sacred Mounts
{{Coord, 45, 22, 00, N, 7, 37, 53, E, display=title, region:IT-TO_type:landmark_source:dewiki Belmonte Valperga Canavese Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan City of Turin Tourist attractions in Piedmont World Heritage Sites in Italy