St. Gervaso and Protaso Church

The parish church of Santi Gervasio and Protasio stands in the historic centre of Baveno.
The church in its broad was consecrated on 13 May 1343, but is documented as a pieve (a rural church with a baptistery) as far back as the 10th and 11th centuries. The Romanesque origins of the church are evident in its gabled façade, in part of its left side and in the presbytery. The imposing six-storey bell tower probably antedates the church by a century. Two Roman inscriptions at the sides of the entrance door testify to the
Romanisation of the area. The inscription on the left, in particular, can be dated to the middle of the 1st century AD, according to the words "Trophimus Daphidianus servo di Tiberio Claudio Cesare Augusto", or “this monument is sacred to the eternal memory of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus”.
The interior has a single nave with side chapels, and contains some interesting works of art, including a 16th century wooden crucifix and paintings of the same period by Defendente Ferrari. Frescoes of the 13th-14th centuries (Crucifixion) and the 15th century (St Ambrose and St Anthony Abbot) can be seen at the sides of the presbytery.
The Baptistry next to the church is a small, graceful building of uncertain origin. The exterior plan is square but the interior is octagonal; the dome is decorated with Renaissance frescoes. The long, delicately frescoed portico of the Via Crucis (stations of the cross) has elegant round arches and imposing granite columns.
The church’s beauty and spirituality are seen to perfection when the façade is lit up by the evening sun.

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