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THE LITTLE
CHURCH OF ST.QUIRICO
(freely drawn from the writings of Giuseppe Spina and Lorena Balbo)
Located above a high, green ground, the chiesetta is devoted to the martyr Saint Quirico, who, with Saint Ambrose, is co-patron of the parish church. It's a precious little rural church in pure Romanesque style; one of the few extant in the Basso Monferrato. Built between the XI and the XII centuries it almost certainly was a center of worship for the inhabitants of Arliate, an ancient suburb of Treville of which no traces remain.
On the hut-like façade, an architraved portal, topped by a lunette, introduces a unique aisle. The semicircular apse has hanging bows and three suggestive single lancet windows. Remains of frescos testify that it was once completely adorned.
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St. Quirico (San Quili, A. Frixa, 2003)
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«The apse was in ancient times frescoed and a small trace of them remains. Presumably, images of Saint Quirico were depicted» (Architect Marco Spinoglio, Technical Project related to special maintenance jobs, completed in 1992).
The small church, always dear to the inhabitants of Treville, was preserved in good enough condition to serve for centuries as a precise point of reference for local worship.
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Mass for the patron saint was celebrated twice a year: on Pentecost and on the Sunday of the week of Saint Quirico day (July 15). As recently as about 40 years ago, the people of Treville went to San Quirico on foot or by cart to assist at the Mass in honor of their co-patron. Then the tradition was abandoned and, as a consequence, the church roof fell in.
At the end of the '70s and the beginning of the '80s, the "Covo" organized patron days to raise money for the reconstruction of the roof , the church having been completely abandoned by the ecclesiastical authorities.
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 St.Quirico and St.Ambrogio/St.Quirico (photos by GP Morano, 2005) |
