The church of San Martino di Engrevo, already documented in 1180, represents one of the best examples of “rural Romanesque” architecture in the territory of Novara. In the past, it was a reference point for the community of Engrevo, which disappeared with time as its inhabitants moved towards Bolzano Novarese.

The real treasure of the church is its series of frescoes, both inside and on the exterior, dating back to a period between the 15th and 16th centuries; the frescoes represent an authentic anthology of painting in the Novara area which, with the images of Christ, the Madonna, and patron Saints,  helps us relive that emotional and spiritual intensity which was so typical of the Middle Ages.

Among these, it is worth pausing over the Martyrdom of the Blessed Panasia, a painting which narrates the death of a young shepherdess from Valsesia at the hands of her step-mother. This shepherdess was the object of considerable devotion from  the local people who, in her name, evoked the healing of all ills. The fresco bears the clear marks of scratches on the step-mother’s face, on the face of a small devil and on the signs of the girl’s martyrdom, caused by the traditional gestures of the faithful who, in times past, would strike the fresco with a stone on these depictions of evil, as a sign of contempt towards the manifestations of the devil. Also of note is the depiction of Saint Martin and the Poor Man and the Mourning of Christ by Tommaso Cagnola and the Saint Martin on Horseback by Francesco Cagnola.