The Church of San Michele Arcangelo is located in Piazza XX Settembre in Pigna and is one of the most important religious buildings from the late Middle Ages in the Intemelia region of Liguria. It was built in the 13th century and subsequently extended in the 16th century, whilst retaining its original Gothic style.

The façade is adorned with an elegant white marble rose window created in 1450 by the sculptor Giovanni Gaggini da Bissone. The rose window is formed by twelve slender columns that create a refined decorative motif, making the façade one of the church’s most distinctive architectural features.

The interior is divided into three naves, separated by two rows of circular and octagonal columns. Behind the high altar stands the famous polyptych created in 1500 by the painter Giovanni Canavesio: an imposing work some four and a half metres high, comprising thirty-six panels framed by a gilded wooden structure in Renaissance style, considered the largest in western Liguria.

At the centre of the polyptych is a depiction of Saint Michael the Archangel piercing the devil as he attempts to snatch a soul from the scales. Surrounding the scene are numerous saints and sacred figures, including Saint Stephen, Saint John the Baptist, Saint Peter and Saint Lawrence; at the top is the Holy Trinity with the dove of the Holy Spirit, flanked by Saints Catherine of Alexandria, Catherine of Siena, Mary Magdalene and Margaret of Antioch. In the lower section appear the Doctors of the Church — Saint Gregory the Great, Saint Jerome, Saint Ambrose and Saint Augustine — whilst the side panels depict, amongst others, the Archangel Gabriel, the Virgin Mary, Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Dominic and other saints. Finally, the predellas depict scenes from the life of Jesus and the twelve apostles, completing one of the richest and most significant pictorial cycles in the area.