Sacro Monte di Oropa

The Sacro Monte di Oropa (literally ‘Sacred Mount of Oropa’) is a Roman Catholic devotional complex in the comune of Biella, Piedmont, northern Italy. It is one of the nine Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy and is on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Construction began in 1617, near the pre-existing Sanctuary of Black Virgin of Oropa, one of the oldest in Piedmont and one of the best known in the region of the Alps. The 12 chapels (plus another seven nearby) are united by a devotional path, and inside these chapels scenes from the story of the life of the Virgin Mary are represented. The minute dimensions and expressions of the characters, the shades and colour tones and the vivid, precise settings of the episodes envelop the visitor in a warm atmosphere which grows from one chapel to the other until reaching Paradise (chapel XV – The Crowning of Mary), on the top of the hill, a Baroque work of art by the brothers Giovanni and Antonio d'Enrico, animated by 156 modelled figures.

Gallery

Sanctuary
La Concezione di Maria
Incoronazione di Maria (detail)
Sposalizio di Maria (detail)

External links

Commons has media related to Sacro Monte di Oropa.

Sacro Monte di Oropa (English)
SacriMonti.net (English) (Italian), web site for European Sacred Mounts.

v t e The Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy

Ossuccio Varese Belmonte Crea Domodossola Ghiffa Oropa Orta Varallo

v t e World Heritage Sites in Italy

Northwest	Crespi d'Adda Genoa Mantua and Sabbioneta Monte San Giorgio¹ Porto Venere, Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto, Cinque Terre Corniglia Manarola Monterosso al Mare Riomaggiore Vernazza Residences of the Royal House of Savoy Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes¹ Rock Drawings in Valcamonica Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan	Northeast	Aquileia The Dolomites Ferrara Modena Cathedral, Torre della Ghirlandina and Piazza Grande, Modena Orto botanico di Padova Ravenna Venice Verona Vicenza and Palladian Villas of the Veneto

Central	Assisi Cerveteri and Tarquinia Florence Hadrian's Villa Piazza del Duomo, Pisa Pienza Rome² San Gimignano Siena Urbino Val d'Orcia Villa d'Este

South	Alberobello Amalfi Coast Castel del Monte, Apulia Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park, Paestum and Velia, Certosa di Padula Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata Naples Palace of Caserta, Aqueduct of Vanvitelli and San Leucio Complex Pompeii Sassi of Matera

Islands	Aeolian Islands Archaeological Area of Agrigento Barumini nuraghes Mount Etna Syracuse and Necropolis of Pantalica Val di Noto Caltagirone Catania Militello in Val di Catania Modica Noto Palazzolo Acreide Ragusa Scicli Villa Romana del Casale

Nationwide	Longobards in Italy, Places of Power; 568-774 A.D. Brescia Cividale del Friuli Castelseprio Spoleto Campello sul Clitunno Benevento Monte Sant'Angelo Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps³

¹ Shared with Switzerland ² Shared with the Holy See ³ Shared with Austria, France, Germany, Slovenia, and Switzerland

Coordinates: 45°37′43″N 7°58′41″E / 45.62861°N 7.97806°E / 45.62861; 7.97806Template:Italy-RC-church-stub

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Sacro Monte di Oropa