Built at the end of the 1500’s as an addition to the already existing Sanctuary dedicated to Sant’Eusebio, the Sacro Monte of Crea consists of 23 chapels and 5 hermitages scattered in the woods and connected to each other by paths. The chapels –other than the first two dedicated to Sant’Eusebio – tell the life story of the Virgin Mary and house extraordinary human-scale statuary groupings made by the Flemish Wespin brothers, known as the Tabacchetti, and frescos made during the 16th and 17th centuries by various artists, including Moncalvo, Morgari, and Bistolfi.
Chapel XXIII dedicated to the coronation of the Virgin Mary deserves special attention; better known as “The Paradise”, it was built following a cylindrical plan with the coronation of the Virgin Mary in a tripudium of bodies, arms, legs and angels’ wings in the master arch. In fact, the Madonna is surrounded by more than 300 abbots, bishops, saints, prophets, eremites, popes and kings, monks and nuns seated on clouds as they witness the event.
The basilica, which opens onto a small central courtyard with a Baroque style façade, has a continuous portico and a mosaic representing the Assumption. Inside the three-nave basilica, there are numerous works of art including the 15th century fresco cycle representing the “Martyrdom of Santa Margherita d’Antiochia”, a work by Macrino d’Alba from 1503, and the wood statue of the “Madonna di Crea” from the 14th century.
