The Sanctuary was built at an altitude of just over a thousand metres, and is made up of the parish church, a chapel entirely carved out of the rock, the home for the elderly and a boarding school, which all overlook a large square. Legend has it that the statue of the Saint – which had been found in a cave by some shepherds - after being moved and taken to procession, went miraculously back to the cave where, later, the chapel was built. The designing of the Sanctuary, started in the early sixteen hundreds, continued on until the first decades of the nineteenth hundreds. The Chiesa di San Giovanni (St John’s church), built between 1602 and 1606 following a design by the architect Bernardo Vittone, is the heart of the whole religious complex. It has only one nave, surrounded by four lateral chapels, and it is surmounted by a dome. It houses works by the major artists and craftsmen who lived in the Biella and Valsesia areas during the eighteenth century. Over the course of time, several buildings have been added to the church: the Rettoria (Rectory) and, right opposite, the Hostaria (Inn), which is now a restaurant. In 1630 a large building to house the schools of the valley was built, and later a boarding school, which remained open until 1935. Next to the Sanctuary there is a cemetery and a distinctive tower: its bell is one of the biggest in the whole of Piedmont.
