from the Ricetto of Candelo you reach the church of S. Maria in few minutes walking along via Mazzini and Via Roma or descending along the grassy stretch in terraces, to the left of the round tower of southeast in the shade of the crenellated walls of Ricetto: the church on the left, which radiates an aura of peace and serenity, and the Ricetto, on the right, a symbol of the strength of a peasant people. Sort before the year One Thousand (but the first document is of 1182) Santa Maria Maggiore is the most ancient of the village.
The building, originally with a single hall, was rebuilt in three naves, punctuated by columns of granite, on horseback from the XIV and XV centuries. The facade is decorated with a portico built in 1631 and a wooden door, the work of Antonio Ferrarone (1736), was restored in 1941 on a project by the architect Nicola moved. On the right side you lever the campanile (secc. XVI- XVII). The interior presents, in the second aisle a small chapel of S. Giovanni Battista, with a blade of unknown author representing the Sacred Family with S. Elizabeth and San Giovanni child (early 17th cent.), work among the most valuable of the artistic heritage of Candelo. The works of art the oldest and most valuable of this church are the valuable table painted by Boniforte Oldoni of Vercelli in 1572, depicting Christ on the cross, and the frescoes on the vault of the right nave, depicting the Doctors of the Church: St Ambrose, S. Gerolamo, S. Augustine, S. Gregorio, attributed to Gaspare de Fornerio from Ponderano (centuries XV – XVI).
