CHIESA DI SANTA CROCE

The Chiesa di Santa Croce (Santa Croce Church) in Bosco Marengo, in the province of Alessandria, is one of the most significant examples of late 16th century Italian architecture. Giorgio Vasari, italian painter, sculptor, architect and writer of treatises, contributed to this project, which turned this place into a pleasant cultural Tuscan-Roman island in the heart of the North of Italy. The architectural ensemble was commissioned by Pope Pio V, who was born in Alessandria and who, in the year of his election, decreed that a large monastery should be built, as well as a church to house his tomb. The monastery and the church were designed by the architect Father Ignazio Danti from Perugia, and by Giacomo della Porta and Martino Longhi who collaborated with him. The Chiesa di Santa Croce (Santa Croce Church) has only one nave with a barrel vault, it has a marble and stone façade and brick sides. Inside the church some paintings by Vasari can be admired, as well as the green marble and porphyry mausoleum of St Pio V.