Church of San Sebastiano

Through the entrance tower you enter what was once the castle enclosure and you arrive at the small church of San Sebastiano, the chapel of the Gonzaga palace. As the plaque on its façade recalls, it was erected in 1577 by the Marquis Ferrante Gonzaga, as thanks to San Sebastiano for having escaped the plague the year before. This was the church most frequented by San Luigi in the period in which he remained in Castiglione and always had a great importance in the religious life of his family. Here, in 1608, the Saint’s three granddaughters, Cinzia, Olimpia and Gridonia, together with some women from Castiglione dedicated themselves to God by establishing the college of the Noble Virgins of Jesus. The following year, the skull of Saint Louis was also placed here , which remained there until 1679, giving the church the title of basilica. Finally, various members of the Gonzaga family are buried in the small palatine church, including the brothers of San Luigi: Rodolfo, Carlo, Ferdinando and Diego.