Chiesa della Missione di Mondovì

About the museum

The Jesuit church of Mondovì was begun in 1665 to a design by Giovenale Boetto, ducal engineer and architect; the foundation stone was laid on 14 May of that year. To build it, the houses on the southern side of Piazza Maggiore were demolished, together with six arches of the porticoes surrounding the square. The sandstone façade is Boetto’s work in its lower part, while the external balcony, which bridges the difference in level of the square, is attributed to Andrea Pozzo.

From 1676 the Jesuit Andrea Pozzo, a lay brother of the Company, intervened, adapting the architectural design to his decoration dedicated to Saint Francis Xavier, “apostle of the Indies”. The interior has a single nave and is richly decorated: false gilding, statues in false bronze and columns painted to imitate marble. On the flat ceiling a false dome with the glory of Saint Francis Xavier, playing on perspective illusion, seems to rise towards the sky; in the pendentives are four large female figures, allegories of the continents where the Jesuits worked.

Pozzo is also responsible for the altar machine (macchina d’altare), one of the very few of this type to survive: a theatrical apparatus that allowed the painted figure of the saint to be raised during major celebrations. After the suppression of the order the church was entrusted to the Priests of the Mission of Saint Vincent de Paul, from which the name “della Missione” derives. The visit is now organised by CoopCulture and forms part of the integrated urban system Mondovì Città d’Arte e Cultura.

Highlights

• False dome painted by Andrea Pozzo with the glory of Saint Francis Xavier
• Perspective decorations, false gilding and columns painted in marble
• 17th-century altar machine, one of the few surviving
• Altar of the Sorrowful Virgin by Andrea Pozzo
• External balcony on Piazza Maggiore

Permanent exhibition

• Chiesa della Missione e opere di Andrea Pozzo – Visit to the church with the illusionistic painted cycles and the altar machine by Andrea Pozzo.

Founded

1665

Operated by

Diocesi di Mondovì (visite a cura di CoopCulture)

Visitors per year

approx. 3,000

Admission & discounts

Also free for residents and holders of the Abbonamento Musei Piemonte e Valle d’Aosta. Tickets can be bought online.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible: no information
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The CoopCulture page declares the site accessible and specifies that the Torre del Belvedere is not accessible to people with disabilities; no further details are given for the church.

Kids & families

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Getting there & parking

By car from the Mondovì motorway exit, take Via Tanaro and then follow the signs for Mondovì Breo and Mondovì Piazza.

Amenities & dining

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit