Ponte Nizza, Sant’Alberto di Butrio

The building of the hermitage was begun by St Albert himself. Having healed miraculously a mute child of the Casasco Marquis, the latter - as a sign of gratitude - built a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary, in which the saint and his eremite followers could celebrate the services.
After St Albert’s death, the hermitage grew and became more powerful thanks to the increasing number of monks, and eventually became the spiritual centre of a very wide area.
The complex of the hermitage is composed of the parish church of Santa Maria, originally built by St Albert, and three adjacent and communicating oratories; the one of Sant'Antonio, the chapel of the Most Holy and finally the church of Sant'Alberto.
All the frescoes that embellish the walls date back to the summer of 1484 and have no signature. Attributed up to recent times to the school of brothers Manfredino and Francischino Baxilio of Castelnuovo Scrivia, now they are believed to be the work of a painter monk who - because of humility - wanted to remain anonymous.