Baroque building with an austere and rigorous aesthetics

Designed by Benedetto Alfieri

Seat of the Episcopal Seminary

The Episcopal Seminary in Asti

The first episcopal seminary of Asti dates back to 1574, wanted by bishop Domenico Della Rovere.
It was built in a building adjacent to the Chiesa di Sant’Ilario (Church of Saint Hilarius), further north than the current position.
In 1762, Bishop Paolo Maurizio Caissotti, in accordance with the provisions of the Council of Trent, decided to create a seminary for the educational and spiritual training of aspirants to the priesthood. The task of designing this new building was assigned, at the end of 1762, to royal architect Benedetto Alfieri (1699 - 1767).
The seminar features an internal courtyard, arcades on the ground floor, individual and collective spaces such as the ellipsoidal refectory. The atrium and the staircase were designed according to the eighteenth-century taste of the perspective view.

Artistic and Historical Heritage of the Seminary

Important artistic works of the fourteenth, seventeenth, and nineteenth centuries are kept in the premises of the seminary.
Among these, the Natività (Nativity) with San Bartolomeo e San Benedetto (Saints Bartholomeus and Benedict), by Gandolfino da Roreto, one of the greatest interpreters of the Renaissance in Piedmont, stands out for its beauty and importance.