San Nicolao or San Nicola di Grimaldengo
THE RUINS OF 12th CENTURY CHURCH

A church positioned just in front of the Serra of Ivrea, a short distance from the church of Santa Maria della Rotonda, in the direction of Vialfrè. There is some trace of the church on a military map dating back to the nineteenth century (IGM 1:25,000) which indicates its position as a ruin.

Only the ruins of the base remain on the site today and they are completely covered with briars and bushes, Some residue of mixed brick and stones with inserts of brick emerge, in certain points they are arranged in regular returns, in others there are river pebbles arranged in a herringbone design according to the typical building methods of the middle ages.

More precise information about the building is obtained from the description by Camillo Boggio, in his noteworthy book on the churches of Canavese:

"On one of the many little morainal hills that rise up between Santa Maria della Rotonda and Vialfrè, mirrored in a little lake, is the church of San Nicola.

Reduced to ruins, its split stone walls measure eighty centimetres in width, it is a little above ground level, it is no longer noticeable that its layout is rectangular in shape, with internal sides measuring 8.35 x 4.20 and with a semi-circular apse with a radius of 2m, its exterior façade is sectioned off by pilasters into three sections and with a thin little slit double splay window. This was the church of San Nicolao di Grimaldengo, numbered among the many annexes of the Hospice of Saints Nicolao and Bernardo of Monte Giove (Gran San Bernardo) in the Papal bull of Pope Alexander III on the 18th of June 1177."