At Last! The Famous Colorful Chapel in La Morra

There was something wrong with me. After all these years of exploring Langhe, I could never spot this famous colorful chapel that I had always heard about! It reminded me of when I lived in L.A. and couldn’t find that “little” HOLLYWOOD sign on the hill. How could I miss such important emblems?

After our visit to Beppe Rinaldi in Barolo we were determined to seek it out! Up a dirt road, we found this teeny tiny chapel painted in all different colors. It was so cute! We had just tasted the Barolo from the Brunate Cru and now we were actually looking right at it. The other symbolic spot in La Morra, the cedar tree could be seen from this great viewpoint too.

The original chapel La Cappella della Madonna delle Grazie was built in 1914 and was used as a shelter for the vineyard workers during hailstorms and the heat. Over the years, the Chapel began to degrade and when the Ceretto family bought 6 hectares of vineyards, the chapel came with it. They had the brilliant idea to ask English artist David Tremlett to make it into something modern and cool like a sort of “wine temple”. Sol LeWitt, an American artist soon joined in on the project and they renovated it into a  place where you could just sit, relax, read a book and sip a glass of wine. That is exactly what one couple was doing when we go there!

Although the colors were originally painted very bright, now they seem to have faded into pastels. This is probably why I couldn’t see it as easily as I expected. In any case, this is a beautiful spot where you can find funky modern touch amidst the old traditional vineyards.