Chiesa di San Martino

via Marconi, 1 - 15073 Castellazzo Bormida (AL)
Tel. +39 0131 265426
Tel. +39 (0131) 272.832
E-mail: beniculturali@diocesialessandria.it
E-mail: biblioteca@comunecastellazzobormida.it
https://diocesialessandria.it/
https://www.cittaecattedrali.it/it/bces/152-chiesa-di-san-martino

Probably the oldest church in Castellazzo Bormida, certainly founded before the year 1000.
The first reliable records of the church date back to 1106, in a document stipulated "in locum gamundii, in platea s.martini"; the recently unearthed capitals near the altar and the column-bearing lions on the façade, whose original location is completely unknown, likely date back to that period.
The church was "copied" by the Gamundians in Alessandria after the city's foundation; the two rectories, entrusted to the Order of Augustinian Fathers, in Castellazzo since 1264, remained in contact throughout the centuries until the 19th-century demolition of the church in Alessandria. The church was likely rebuilt in the 14th century, and expanded in the early decades of the 16th century. The work was completed in 1534 with the façade being moved forward to incorporate the bell tower, which had previously been the Praetorian Bulletin. On February 1st, the church was consecrated by Leonardo di Vercelli, Bishop of Bethlehem (who would also consecrate the renovated Santa Maria della Corte the following day).
The façade was finally completed in 1561.
The actual appearance of the church during these centuries remains unknown.
In 1929, the church, which had a large window on the façade and horizontal stripes on the exterior, was heavily renovated and returned to its presumed initial appearance (which we see today), in keeping with the pseudo-conservative spirit of the restorers of the time.
On the night between September 15th and 16th, 1895, a candle left burning caused the internal stairs of the rear bell tower to catch fire.
The bell tower was soon rebuilt to a design by architect Giuseppe Boidi Trotti, raising it approximately 15 meters above the structure of the old tower. The bell tower, after decades of inactivity, was recently consolidated (also following the earthquakes of August 2000 and April 2003) and re-equipped with bells.
The convent of San Martino is first mentioned in a will in 1347. Its current appearance dates back to the reconstruction that took place between 1664 and 1675.
At the end of the 19th century, it was reduced to a single wing. The remaining interior rooms were likely decorated at the same time.
The surviving wing of the convent still exists today and, thanks to the intense work of the parish priest Don Gianni Cossai, has been reopened for use by the Castellazzo community since September 2005.