Saint-Gilles Church

Tradition dates the foundation of the monastery in Verrès to the 10th century, however the canonicals of St. Egidio are mentioned for the first time in 1050. It was the location of the parish church, which includes buildings dating from the 11h and 18th centuries. The main building, in visible stone, and the adjacent, main bell-tower were built in 1512 by the Provost Charles of Challant.

The current parish church of Sant’Egidio was instead built in 1775 on the site where the previous, Romanesque church lay. Only a simple, little belfry remains today. In 1775 Count Francesco Ottavio of Challant allowed the structures of the pre-existing church to be merged with the Chapel of Saints George and Maurice, built in 1407 by the knight Ibleto of Challant as his family’s burial chapel. The structures in this chapel are still easily identified today, from outside due to the magnificent mullioned window in worked stone that stands out on the wall facing towards the village and inside due to its gothic, ribbed vaults which were saved from eighteenth-century intervention.

References:

• Aosta Valley Tourism

Address

Vicolo San Egidio 13, Verrès, Italy

Details

Founded: 11th century
Category: Religious sites in Italy