The ancient Oratory survived the passage of time

The oratory, located in the Pigna district in via Capitolo in a particularly complex urban fabric despite a series of demolitions of some buildings that took place in the surroundings, is inserted in a particular residential context. The facade with the semicircular window is characterized by the presence of a convent structure with perhaps even a cloister, whose possible remains are still visible on the left side of the church.

The foundation of the sacred building is probably connected with the arrival in Sanremo of a community of the nuns of St. Bridget, called Brigidine, belonging to the Rule of St. Francis, who, as it appears from a document of 1596, were settled for some time in a monastery located below the Costa.

The particular devotion for the Swedish saint, however, has its roots in the late medieval period, being widespread in various other places of the West as a deer, and deeply linked to the brotherhood of women.

However, it is known with certainty that the nuns left our city immediately after the end of the Council of Trent in 1563, to move to Porto Maurizio, while their Sanremo convent remained uninhabited and completely dilapidated until the early 17th century, when the church was transformed into an oratory on the initiative of the Confraternity of the same name, one of the oldest in Sanremo, which was already active in 1607.

In the first years of the XVII century some works were carried out inside the oratory, which, Via Capitolo, you can see the façade of the Oratory with plaster. Thanks to the intense activity of the confraternity, it had become the spiritual centre of the population of Pigna, so much so that, towards the middle of the century, the preaching of Lent was allowed for the population of the upper part of the town.

Once the long restoration works were completed in 1667, on 30th April of that year the Bishop of Albenga Pier Francesco Costa, convinced, during a pastoral visit to Sanremo, of the need to establish a branch of the parish of San Siro, granted the chaplain of the Oratory of Saint Bridget the faculty to preserve the Blessed Sacrament.

On 5th January 1633 Captain Stefano Moreno, having the intention of founding a chaplaincy on the high altar of the oratory, assigned as a dowry to the members of the Confraternity of Saint Bridget three rooms and a vegetable garden located in Pian di Nave, for the total income of two hundred Genoese shields.

In August 1678 the roof of the oratory was seriously damaged by a bomb dropped during the massive cannonade to which the city was subjected at that time by a section of the French fleet.

Many people from Sanremo remember that Canon Agostino De Marchi, nicknamed "Pré Cagastèchi", had been rector of the small church dedicated to the Swedish saint for many years.

In the final phase of the last World War the area surrounding the sacred building was heavily bombed by a squadron of allied fighter bombers, which caused eighteen victims and numerous injuries.

To commemorate this sad war episode, which occurred on 13 February 1945, a plaque with the names of the victims was placed on the façade of the oratory after the war.

The latter, with a very simple appearance and left in exposed stone even though it was originally plastered, has a large semicircular window, while the interior has a single rectangular nave without decorations, in which the old high altar and a painting depicting the titular saint from the Baroque period are placed.
The damage caused by the bombardment created an upheaval in the area, wiping out the houses and the surrounding streets.

The following arrangement, also trying to erase the urbanistic wounds, in front of the Oratory was created a small square mistakenly named Santa Brigida, on which musical and artistic events have been taking place for a long time.

In 2009 work began on the restoration of the Oratory, both inside and outside. The facade, which until the beginning of the war was covered with plaster after the war, perhaps because of the damage suffered, remained with visible stones.

The restoration brought it back to its original appearance. Today, like the small square in front of it, the structure is destined to be a cultural centre for exhibitions and events.

(text source: Andrea Gandolfo and other Authors; image sources: our archive)