Costigliole d'Asti - The Confraternity of Saint John Beheaded or of Mercy

The confraternity of Saint John Beheaded of Costigliole has very ancient origins, in fact already in the fifteenth century the association was documented as established and identified as a confraria of the Holy Spirit. On the model of medieval confraries, which created brotherhood within the same locality, the confraria of Costigliole administered a hospitale for the care of the sick, elderly people and wayfarers. In 1603 the confraria of Holy Spirit obtained its first ecclesiastic recognition and since this date the ancient and lay confraria became an authentic religious confraternity.

Over time, theoriginal church became insufficient to accommodate the numerous affiliates and in 1611, on the site of the old hospitale, the construction was begun of the current confraternity home. The erection works ended in 1625 and on the altar was placed a valuable altarpiece depicting the Annunciation, the last work of the painter Guglielmo Caccia, the "Moncalvo", which is now preserved in the sacristy of the parish church. The new confraternity was blessed and open to worship in 1626, with the addition of the dedication to the Blessed Annunciation. In 1694, the confraternity of Costigliole took the name of Confraternity of Saint John Beheaded or of Mercy, thanks to the aggregation to the homonymous Roman arch-confraternity.

Between 1813 and 1815, thanks to the help given in the reconstruction of the main church of the village collapsed in 1811, the confraternity obtained in exchange the left side chapel, which was then enlarged with the side choir for the confreres and the house that was the home of the chaplains until 1970. The bell tower, in neo-baroque style, dates back to 1891 and was built by the construction company of Antonio Andriano of Castagnole delle Lanze, based on the design by the local surveyor Pietro Gallino. In 1970, with the death of the last chaplain Father Giovanni Testore, the church was closed to worship and in 1979 the chaplains' home was sold as well. The Confraternity of Mercy, though humble and modest in its architectural elements, was rich in artifacts of great artistic value: paintings, statues, textiles and silverware. In 1982 the Municipality of Costigliole bought the Confraternity of Mercy from the parish and in 2011 the ecclesiastical institution of the confraternity of Holy Spirit and Blessed Annunciation was extinguished. In 2021 the municipal administration promoted the restoration of all the church’s exteriors, including the façade and the valuable seventeenth-century stucco decorations. Currently owned by the Municipality, the ancient Church will be renovated to accommodate cultural activities.