RELIGION

When Christian Faith spread across Northern Italy, people living in Tortona converted thanks to Saint Marziano,  who at the beginning of the first century started preaching the Gospel in this area. Christian people gathered in private houses, sometimes in secret and they had to suffer  persecutions till Constatine’s peace in 313. Then during the 4th Century Saint Innocentius increased the foundation of Monasteries and Abbeys in the town and nearby. In the 8th century people attended religious services in sacred places and buildings called Pievi. Today we can still admire an arcade  Porch called “Portichetto dell' Annunziata” which was a part of a larger Monastery where nuns lived. Tortona at this time had a big cathedral  built on top of the hill. It was an important and large building as the Bishop was powerful, unfortunately this monument was destroyed and rebuilt downtown.

This was a period of great faith and energy in which clerks explained the Gospel in churches and visited people in the villages nearby. It was a very hard mission but that’s why today Tortona’s Bishop  still has a huge territory to rule.