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Abbey of Sant'Antonio di Ranverso: Certainly one of the more interesting and important monuments in Buttigliera Alta in the Italian province of Turin. The monastery took its name from a combination of the names of Saint Antonio Abate and of the “Rivus Inversus”, a canal in the zone of the same name because it is located to the north of the Morenic hills. The preceptory complex was founded in 1188 by Umberto III of Savoy and was given in trust to the Hospital Order of the Antoniani Fathers, with the intent of creating a point of assistance for pilgrims and a center for the treatment of those afflicted with the “Fuoco di S. Antonio” known in medical circles as erpete zoster. The sick were treated with pig lard which, by reducing the contact with air, gave them some relief. For this reason, in the iconography of S. Antonio Abate there is almost always a pig.
The abbey complex has been remodeled many times over the centuries, which has strongly altered the original design. It contained a hospital, of which only a façade is left, the preceptory, and the Church. The church itself today is in the gothic Lombard style, to which it was modified in the XIV and XV centuries. Next to the church is the bell tower in the gothic style from the 1300’s.
On the inside, the walls are decorated with numerous frescoes from the XIII-XV centuries. Those of most note were painted by Giacomo Jacqueiro in the initial decades of the 1400’s. Among these is a spectacular scene “Road to the Calvary” in the sacristy. In the presbytery, there is a beautiful work by Defendente Ferrari from 1531, which also includes painted doors for protection of the main work.
In 1776 the Pope Pio VI assigned the property to the Order of Mauritius who has had this property under their care to today.
On a lighter note we should mention the more recent tradition of the life-size nativity scene staged on the grounds of the preceptory, with the participation of hundreds of persons, children and adults, enacting the biblical passages related to the birth of Christ.
