During the 19th century the Santa Maria church became a part of the parish of Appiano and was expanded twice, first from 1804 to 1808, then again in 1872-73. Between 1925 and 1929 the architect Ugo Zanchetta completely rebuilt the Carmelite monastery, and from 1935 and 1939 the parish church, which had already been rebuilt in the late 18th century, was expanded to accommodate the town's increasing population. Architect Paolo Mezzanotte presented plans for a church expansion to cost 800,000 lire, and 12 granite columns, each 8.5m in height and 1m in diameter, were purchased from the municipality after the demolition of the atrium of the Fatebenefratelli Hospital (Azienda Ospedaliera Fatebenefratelli e Oftalmico). Cardinal Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster laid the cornerstone on March 14, 1935 and consecrated the Pietro e Paolo church on September 30, 1939. The old church building remained beside the new and was not demolished until 1953, after two keystones broke and large cracks appeared in the wall, which were prohibitively expensive to repair.
