The San Gaudenzio church is on the right bank of the Dora Baltea, beyond the Borghetto district, in an area that was once countryside. When it was built, the small church stood solitary on a small high ground located outside of the Ivrea residential area. It was built between 1716 and 1724, on ruins of a fortification called Castelletto (1705). Superintendence was assigned to the Prevost of the Cathedral don Lorenzo Pinchia and the Municipality, along with the generous gifts of citizens, made it possible to finance the construction. Ten years after the construction of the central body, the sacristy and the room above was added. In 1742 the elegant bell tower began to be built. It is documented that the building had strong popular fervor, testimony of the devotion to the figure of San Gaudenzio, born in Ivrea in the IV century AD, period of the initial Christianisation of Piedmont. The architect that designed is not known. There have been different hypothesis on Bernardo Vittone, however, due to his young age, it is probably only an intervention related to the works on the sacristy and the bell tower. The more accredited theory, despite not being documented, is the paternity of architect Carlo Andrea Guibert, whose presence in Ivrea in the first years of 1700 is testimonied by other intervention, such as the San Lorenzo Church and the Bishop’s Palace. Luca Rossetti from Orta in 1738 painted the internal frescos, in the figurative and quadrature parts. Mastro Agostino rama instead executed the stuccos.
Visits to the San Gaudenzio Church are handled by the CroassdelBorghet Association, a cultural association with headquarters in Borghetto that is responsible for keeping alive events related to the San Grato district. Exhibits are organised inside the church.
Times: visits upon booking