Historical notes

According to legend, when Arduino, Marquis of Ivrea - who had been appointed King of Italy in 1002 - fell seriously ill, the Holy Virgin appeared to ask him to build a church in Belmonte for the Benedictine monks. He woke up fully healed and ordered the construction of the church dedicated to the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. History, however, on the basis of documents dating back to the year 1114, proves that a small convent connected to a place of worship already existed and housed a female monastic group under the jurisdiction of the Abbey of Fruttuaria of San Benigno Canavese.  
Around 1600 – 1601, the nuns left the convent under orders of the Council of Trento which did not like female convents to be located in isolated places, so the nuns were replaced the following year by the Franciscan Friars Minor who gradually expanded it together with the church.  
In 1712, the guardian of the convent, Friar Michelangelo da Montiglio, decided to build a new itinerary representing the Way of the Cross, involving the communities and some of the local noble families.
With the suppression of the religious orders in 1802 and later in 1866, the friars were removed from the sanctuary. In 1869, they were able to return and began the restoration of the chapels, redecorating them with the addition of architectural backdrops and populated with "statues colored with the soil of Castellamontana".