Sotto il Monte Giovanni XXIII

This village with farm origins at the foot of Mount Canto, remained practically unchanged until the 20th century election of Cardinal Angelo Roncalli as Pope (28th October 1958) who modified the life of the town, making it a tourist centre. Many pilgrims visited the town, eager to visit the birthplace of Pope John or the church of Santa Maria, where Angelo Roncalli was baptised and celebrated his first mass, and which houses valuable works from the 1500s. Another stage for the pilgrimage of the faithful is the Abbey of S. Egidio, a jewel of Romanesque art of the 10th century. This is also the seat of a centre for Ecumenical studies, founded and directed by Father D.M. Turoldo, near which you can admire a bronze statue of the Pope, work of the sculptor Carlo Pisi.