Churches and shrines: Montjovet

The oldest church of Monjovet and the richest from the point of view of its historical and artistic value, given that it was the parish church for at least five centuries.

It is situated at the exit of the old chief town, on a headland overhanging the Dora, with a road running alongside it that immediately climbs upwards: until the construction of the Mongiovetta (1771), this was only carriageable road that linked the Lower Valley to the valley of Saint Vincent, and therefore, to the rest of the region.
The building of the church, which was originally dedicated to Saint Mary, dates back to the 11th-12th century. The building was however later re-managed on several occasions, it was then demolished and a larger one was rebuilt and re-consecrated on the 2nd of May 1700, when it was dedicated to St. Roch.

The charming bell tower, with its double lancet window openings and hexagonal spire, belongs to the previous church. The interior, with a single nave and ribbed vaults, houses noteworthy works of art. The main altar which dates back to the 17th century, has flanked little fluted columns imitative of a classical style and other Baroque style tortile columns.
In the central alcove, under the dove, there is the fifteenth century statue of the Madonna on the throne with Child, in the side alcoves there are the statues of Saint Gratus (on the left), the bishop of Aosta and patron of the dioceses, and a holy Pope (on the right), in the fastigium, inside the tympanum, a bust of the Eternal Father giving a blessing.
On the left of the main altar there is a large wooden Crucifix, applied to a cross, covered by a thin sheet of metal, attributed to the 14th century.
On the walls that divide the nave from the presbytery, there are two side altars (16th-17th century).
The left hand one is dedicated to St. Nicholas the bishop and houses statues from the sixteenth century: St. Nicholas in the central alcove, St. James the Great and an unknown bishop saint in the side ones, St. Anthony the Great up high in the middle of the tympanum). The right hand one is dedicated to the Madonna of the Rosary, there is a canvas with the Virgin and the saints Dominic, Catherine of Siena, Anthony the Great and Carlo Borromeo, surrounded by panels with the fifteen Mysteries.
The separation between the nave and the presbytery is marked, above, by the beam of the triumphal arch, surmounted by a Crucifix (17th century).
Inside the church there are also two other large painted canvases, one showing the martyrdom of St. Sebastian (17th century), the other depicting the Madonna with Child, between saints Joseph and Anthony of Padua and three angels holding the Shroud, a fresco dated 1742 showing the Madonna of Mercedes and an astylar cross in silver plated copper from the 15th century, rich with symbols, flowers and illustrations of angels and saints.

The history of the parish of Monjovet is very complex. In the papal bull of Alexander III dated 20 April 1176 it is mentioned among the churches depending on the bishop of Aosta the “ecclesia sancti Eusebii de Plubeio”, which is said to be situated in the plain of Montjovet. The place name Publey also appears among the stages of the journey from Canterbury to Rome, taken by the abbot Sigerico during the year 990, along the so-called “fracigena” road. Two hospitals, founded in the suburb and the village of Plout, guaranteed the assistance of the wayfarers during the Middle Ages. The precise point in which the parish church of S. Eusebio was meant to be located is unknown, it may have been destroyed with numerous other houses by an enormous landslide that destroyed the hill of Montjovet in the 13th century, changing the topography of the area and the main road network. The seat of the parish was perhaps then transferred to the suburb, the church of which, dedicated to the Madonna, still has certain gothic elements today. At the beginning of the 15th century, a chapel of ease was built in honour of St. Eusebius and St. Leodegarius (Léger) near Dora, in the district of Savi, but this too was destroyed, along with the cemetery, by a flood during the month of October 1586. Around 1590 in the hamlet of Plangerb another branch was built, it was dedicated to St. Eusebius, like the other older church. Celebratory masses and funeral masses were celebrated there. The parish of Montjovet, originally administered by the diocesan priests, was transferred in 1433 to the provost of Saint-Gilles of Verrès, which it remained under, amidst lots of controversies, until the mid eighteenth century, at which time it was once again put back into the hands of the bishop of Aosta. For a certain period, when it was dependant on Saint-Gilles, the right to nominate the parish priest was held by the noble Challant family.

The current parish church, under the title of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, built around 1830, was consecrated on the 3rd of May 1837. It is a rectangular shaped building with a single nave, it is very bright with a circular apse. Of the interior furnishings, which date back to the last century, the most significant piece is undoubtedly the organ, which is the work of the Carlo Vegezzi-Bossi company (1897).
Reworked on several occasions over time, it was returned to its original conditions during the restoration of 1990.
The bell tower was built in 1832 a few metres from the church, above a spur of rock. In the bell cell, which is opened by four large single lancet windows, there are five bells, one of which, dated 1522, originates from the church of the town. From the adjacent square you can admire the beautiful complex consisting of the church, the bell tower and the parochial house, a construction originating from the Napoleonic era in which the municipality once had its headquarters.