What is Serralunga di Crea known for?

UNESCO Sacri Monti site since 2003, 23 chapels and 5 hermitages climbing a wooded hill on the highest ridge of the Basso Monferrato. Marian sanctuary attributed to Saint Eusebius of Vercelli around 350 AD, the spiritual core around which the Sacro Monte was built from 1589. Hillside vineyards inscribed in 2014 as part of the UNESCO Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont, the second world heritage line of the commune.

Where is Serralunga di Crea?

Serralunga di Crea is a comune in the province of Alessandria, Piedmont region of Italy, about 62 kilometers from Novara.

Piedmont · Alessandria

Serralunga di Crea

A Basso Monferrato commune of 503 holding the Sacro Monte di Crea, a UNESCO Sacri Monti site of 23 chapels around an Eusebian sanctuary.

62 km / 39 mi

Nearest hub (Novara)

503

Population

Apr–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

UNESCO

Why come

Serralunga di Crea sits in the Basso Monferrato hills forty-five kilometers east of Torino, on the highest of a series of ridges that look across the Po plain. The Sacro Monte di Crea rises on a wooded hill of 443 meters above the village. The sanctuary at its centre is traditionally attributed to Saint Eusebius of Vercelli around 350 AD; the climb of chapels was begun in 1589 by Costantino Massino on a Rosary plan of fifteen chapels, expanded over the next two centuries to twenty-three chapels and five hermitages. The Chapel of Paradise at the summit holds more than three hundred statues, one of the most elaborate compositions in the Sacri Monti. The Sacro Monte di Crea is one of the nine Sacri Monti of Piemonte and Lombardia inscribed by UNESCO in 2003. The surrounding vineyards are part of the Monferrato Vineyard Landscape inscribed in 2014, the second UNESCO recognition reachable from the same commune.

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Gallery

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Known for

Sacro Monte di Crea
UNESCO Sacri Monti site (2003), 23 chapels and 5 hermitages on the wooded hill above the village, begun 1589 around the Eusebian sanctuary.
Santuario di Nostra Signora di Crea
Marian sanctuary at the centre of the Sacro Monte, traditionally founded by Saint Eusebius of Vercelli around 350 AD.
Cappella del Paradiso
Final chapel of the Sacro Monte, summit of the climb, with over 300 statues in a polychrome celestial composition.
Riserva Naturale Speciale del Sacro Monte di Crea
Special nature reserve covering the wooded slopes and the chapels, protecting the Monferrato hill ecology around the pilgrim route.
Vigneti del Monferrato UNESCO
Surrounding vineyards inscribed in 2014 as part of the Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont (Langhe-Roero and Monferrato).

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June is the green window in the Basso Monferrato: hills coming into leaf, the climb up the Sacro Monte cool in the morning, and the panorama across the Po plain at its clearest. July and August touch the mid-thirties on the open ridges; the woods around the chapels stay cooler, but the late afternoon climb is hard work. September and October are the wine months, with Monferrato harvest in the surrounding cantine and pilgrim groups returning for the Rosary festivals. November through March is quiet, often foggy on the plain below; the sanctuary keeps reduced hours and the chapel route is walkable in clear winter air but exposed in poor weather.