Church of San Brizio in Vagna

The Parish Church of San Brizio in Vagna, a hamlet of Domodossola, is one of the oldest churches in the Ossola Valley, a true artistic gem standing on a hill dominating the Domodossola plain.
The current building still shows the remains of the ancient Romanesque construction, as can be seen from the square shape of the bell tower. During the 1600s, the church underwent considerable alterations that led to its current appearance.
Inside, the Church of San Brizio in Vagna has a nave and two side aisles covered by a cross-vaulted roof and columns carved from single blocks of local Serizzo stone. The high altar, made in 1797 in polychrome marble, is flanked by the statues of St. Brice and St. Gaudentius. The large organ built in 1872 and the valuable works of art commissioned over time by the religious confraternities are worth admiring. The most outstanding of these works are the wooden altar carved by Giulio Gualio, one of the most highly-regarded sculptors of the time, and the impressive central painting – by an unknown painter – depicting the Virgin Mary with Jesus, St. Martha and St. Brice.
A splendid painting by Tanzio da Varallo can be seen in the Chapel of the Visitazione della Beata Vergine Maria a Santa Elisabetta: it shows the meeting between the Virgin Mary and St. Elizabeth expressing solemnity and beauty, especially in the centre of the painting, in which the hands of the two Saints meet, illuminated by a Caravaggesque-style light.