CHIESA DI SAN GIORGIO IN VALPERGA

The Church of San Giorgio is a fine example of medieval architecture, in fact its oldest parts and the bell tower, with its elegant Romanesque marble mullioned windows with two lights, date back to the 11th century. The oldest document that has come down to us dates back to 1150, but the church at that time was already built and functioned as the chapel of the nearby castle of the lords of Valperga as well as the parish church of the village below: the high bell tower with its elegant Romanesque marble mullioned windows with two lights dates back to that period.
Inside the church is a 15th-century pictorial cycle that is unique in the Canavese area. In fact, the complex of paintings inside the church constitutes one of the most important medieval pictorial cycles in the upper Canavese area. However, the frescoes are not all by the same painter nor of the same era, recognising the hand of several artists from different painting schools and eras. During a plague epidemic, possibly that of 1630, the church was used as a lazaret; for hygienic reasons, the frescoes on the walls were covered with lime, an episode that fortunately saved them from decay.