The basilica on Isola San Giulio is one of the oldest and most atmospheric churches in Piedmont, with a foundation traditionally dating to the late fourth century and a Romanesque rebuilding from the early twelfth. The dim interior holds frescoes that stack up across the centuries — Gothic crucifixions, Renaissance saints, baroque side chapels — over a layout that has barely changed in nine hundred years.
The single most remarkable object is the ambo, a pulpit cut from green local serpentine around 1100 and carved on four sides with the symbols of the Evangelists and a procession of fantastical beasts. The whole thing was sculpted from a single block of stone. Open daily outside Mass times; admission free; allow at least half an hour with the lights on (there is a coin-operated timer at the entrance).