Monuments in the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo
This elaborate Baroque monument set against the third pillar of the south aisle has several peculiarities. It is crowned by the coat-of-arms of Pope Nicholas IV (Girolamo Masci) but this medieval pope was buried in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. The monument in Santa Maria del Popolo was built for his late descendant, Count Masci-Ferracuti from Ascoli Piceno who was appointed to the Bishop of Vieste by Pope Sixtus V in 1589. He died in Rome in 1613 at the age of 60 years. He was buried with solemn pomp in a marble tomb in the basilica. The tomb was built by her niece, Anastasia Mascia and her husband, Marzio Elefantucci, a nobleman from Bologna. Under the pretense of honouring their uncle they built a monument for the most illustrious member of their family, Pope Nicholas IV whose name is mentioned twice in the funerary inscription.
Roman Catholic Diocese of Mondovì
The first bishop of Mondovì was the Dominican Damiano Zavaglia; among his successors were Percivallo di Palma (1429), Amadeo Romagnano (1497), who reconstructed the cathedral (1550); Michele Ghislieri, O.P. (1550), Grand Inquisitor and later Pope Pius V; Cardinal Vincenzo Lauro (1566), founder of the seminary, during whose incumbency the cathedral and other churches were torn down to make room for the citadel; Giovanni Battista Isnardi (1697), who restored the episcopal palace and the church of St. Dalmazaio; Carlo Felice Sanmartino (1741), founder of the new seminary, and Giovanni Tommaso Ghilardi, O.P. (1842).