You are here: Churches
Oratorio di San TommasoThe Oratory of San Tommaso
The small church of San Tommaso is situated about 1 kilometre far from Briga, along the ancient Roman road that rises toward Lake Orta to get to the Simplon Pass. The small and charming oratory lies detached on the top of a low hill, one of the oldest churches in this region together with San Filiberto in Pella.
The building consists of a sole nave and it is made of stone and cobbles, enclosed by a semicircular apse with couples of pensile small arches and two loophole windows. The façade has a saddle roof and it has been slightly superelevated on the occasion of restoration works in 1918; the gneiss roof dates back to the same period.
At the top of the façade, a cross opening allows light to pass through, assuring thus a further lighting inside. A lintel and an archivolt with radial stones lie above the door.
The interior of the Oratory of San Tommaso conserves some valuable frescos which - according to some experts - date back to the first half of the XIth century; they are thought to be some of the oldest in all Piedmont Region.
The apse and the triumphal arch portray the Virgin Mary, the Twelve Apostles, the Dove, Jesus and the Angels. The symbols of the four Evangelists and a decorative fillet with geometric designs are also present.
Zone
Il Cusio
Locality
Briga Novarese