San Sebastiano Curone
Welcome to San Sebastiano Curone
Hello everyone! Today I will talk to you about San Sebastiano Curone, an Italian municipality located in Piedmont, in the province of Alessandria. With its 533 inhabitants, this village has a rich and fascinating history that made it, during the past centuries, a fundamental stop on the salt road that connected the Ligurian Sea to the Po Valley.
History
San Sebastiano Curone has very ancient origins. Already at the time of the Lombards, the territory was among the possessions of the Abbey of San Colombano di Bobbio. In an ancient manuscript, the village is mentioned as a "cella" directly dependent on the Abbey of Bobbio. Over the centuries, the territory has undergone various dominations: first by the Malaspina, then by the Fieschi of Genoa. In the sixteenth century, it was under the jurisdiction of the Doria family. Thanks to its location along the salt road, San Sebastiano Curone became an important commercial center.
Symbols
Every municipality has its coat of arms and San Sebastiano Curone is no exception. The symbol of the village is a red cross on a white background.
Monuments and places of interest
The beauty of San Sebastiano Curone is everywhere. The old town is characterized by narrow streets, characteristic squares, and important palaces. The Giani Castle, for example, is a building in medieval forms but renovated in the 1930s by Ulderico Giani. The town hall, instead, is located in a splendid Liberty-style building designed by Lorenzo Bourges, called Palazzo Mazza Galanti.
The Church of San Sebastiano (San Sebastiano Curone) (1670) preserves a canvas attributed to the school of the Genoese painter Domenico Fiasella, the '' Martyrdom of St. Sebastian '' of the second half of the seventeenth century attributed to the Genoese painter Giovanni Raffaele Badaracco, and the polychrome gilded wooden altarpiece entitled the '' Crucifixion '', made in the late sixteenth century by the German master Stefano Vil.
Also interesting are the two oratories, said respectively "dei rossi" and "dei bianchi", with baroque-style facades. Of particular value is the polychrome wooden sculpture '' Madonna Addolorata '' by Anton Maria Maragliano in the Church of the Trinity (oratory of the reds). In the highest square, Piazza Solferino, the imposing house of Prince Doria and the church of Grazie.
The stone portals and lintels, the oldest of which date back to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, belong to the rustic Genoese architecture and contribute to creating the suggestive atmosphere of the village.
Recently opened is the [https://www.archiviopittorgiani.com/ Archivio Pittor Giani], located in Piazza Roma at the artist's own will, and the Archivio Piero Leddi, located in the house of Prince Doria, which enhance the work of the aforementioned artists with exhibitions and events.
Celebrities born in San Sebastiano Curone
San Sebastiano Curone gave birth to two famous figures: Felice Giani and Piero Leddi. Felice Giani (1758 - 1823) was a neoclassical painter who worked, among others, for Napoleon Bonaparte and Empress Catherine II of Russia. Piero Leddi (1930 - 2016), instead, was a prominent figure in post-war Milanese painting.
Conclusions
In this brief article, I have tried to make you discover the beauties of San Sebastiano Curone. A municipality that, despite its few inhabitants, is rich in culture, art, and history. If you are in the area, you cannot miss it!
