St. Marcellus' Church in Paruzzaro
Itineraries From the Park all around
Minitour Paruzzaro (2/2) 
The first mention of St. Marcellus' Church dates to 1151 and the end of the 12th century. St. Marcellus de Paruzeiro was the parish until the end of the 16th century, but originally it was perhaps connected to a now vanished village closer by.
Paruzzaro, already known in 1304 as Olegio qui dicitur Paruciario, was endowed with a castle whose St. Sirus' chapel, restored, became the new parish in 1595. (St. Sirus' Roman Beltower, built in 1150 - 1175, was also used as a watch tower).
St. Marcellus is one of the oldest Roman churches in the countryside surrounding Novara. It is almost deprived of decorations (only double arches in the apse), and it dates back to 1000 - 1025. The bell tower (1050 - 1075) has a five floor, overhanging arch structure. The openings get typically larger upstairs: from loopholes, to one-light and two-light windows.
The interior is rich in 15th and 16th century frescoes. On the upper right wall are 23 tables with the Passion cycle, made by the Master of the Passion from Postua shortly after 1463. Below are various Saints, a Crucifixion (overlapping another from 1463) and the Judgment, works by Sperindio Cagnoli not long before 1514.
On the left the devotional fresco by Giovanni Antonio Merli (1488) of the Nursing Madonna between St. Gratus and St. Rocco. The frescoes on the apse - Christ with Evangelist's Symbols, the Apostles, Mercy Works, the Annunciation, St. Marcellus and St. Sirus - and St. Lucius on the right to the entrance can be attributed to Sperindio Cagnoli (about 1516 - 1517).
Info
Other informations about itineraries From the Park all around are available on this web site, and nearby the described monument, in English.
Information provided by GASMA (Arona's Archeological, Historical, Mineralogical Group)
For guided tours please contact Associazione ProntoGuide
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Last updated: December 9th 2003