NIGEL'S RAMBLES: Romanesque in the Parma Hills

In the mid Apennines above Parma, there are three charming Romanic Pieve churches. In the last few weeks I have visited three of them.

First of is the Pieve di Sasso. I have wanted to see the inside of this church for a long time, but I have always found it closed. Last Sunday I was lucky and found it open.

Pieve di Sasso, Neviano degli Arduini, PR

Mentioned for the first time in a document written in1004, the Pieve di Sasso stands isolated on a hill between the valleys of the Parma and Enza rivers. The Pieve was, between the tenth and fourteenth centuries, a place of rest and shelter for traveller's and pilgrims on Linari road, a historic connection between Parma and Tuscany via the Lagastrello pass. Little remains of the original church. The church which we see today, was rebuilt at the end of the eleventh century, with a three-nave layout ending in three apses oriented to the east.

Pieve di Sasso, Neviano degli Arduini, PR

The church with its imposing rough stone columns is very simple inside with no decoration. But in one corner we can see a lovely twelfth century octagonal baptismal font, on whose faces are carved a winged human figure (St. Matthew), a winged lion (St. Mark), a cleric and a griffin with a dove.

Pieve di Sasso, Neviano degli Arduini, PR

As with many religious buildings, it is built in a wonderful location with superb views of the mid Apennines.

Pieve di Sasso, Neviano degli Arduini, PR

Sometimes a photo expedition seems to be a disaster, but then I have some good luck and things go better than I imagined. One Sunday, a few weeks ago was a good example. I travelled into the foothills above Parma to explore the area around Tizzano. There is an old ruined castle, a Romanesque Piave and some lovely landscapes. The weather turned misty and grey ruling out any worthwhile landscape photography, the castle, overgrown with weeds was less than impressive, so I went on to the Pieve to take a look outside, believing it to be closed. Surprisingly it was open and so I unexpectedly added another scalp to my Romanesque project.

Pieve di Tizzano, Tizzano Val Parma, PR

This simple little church is very plain inside, the only carving on the capitals, is a mysterious snake, the strongest Medieval symbol for evil. The building dates from the eleventh century, but has had many modifications and additions over the years. Its peculiarity is the bell tower, built centrally over the entrance. This French style is very rare in Italy.

Pieve di Tizzano, Tizzano Val Parma, PR

The Pieve is in a very isolated position, someway from the village. Some fresco fragments were discovered here during a restoration. They were removed for some reason. I was able to see them in the main Parish church. The noble with his horse is rather nice.

Tizzano Val Parma, PR

Fornovo is today, an anonymous exit on the Parma - La Spezia motorway, but it was once an important staging post on the Via Francigena, the pilgrimage route that ran from Canterbury down to Rome and then onwards to Bari, if you wanted to do a bit of Crusading in the Holy Land.

Pieve di Fornovo, Fornovo, PR

Mentioned for the first time in 854, Santa Maria Assunta is one of the oldest churches in the diocese of Parma. In the middle of the eleventh century the church with three naves and three apses was built and whose structure is at the base of the current building.

Pieve di Fornovo, Fornovo, PR

Prominent of the façade of the Pieve is a large framed carving, that warns the pilgrim about the consequences of bad behaviour. On the left, lust and lechery will end with some devils feeding you to a dragon. Usury in the center will get you weighed down with money bags and crushed under a safe, while a devil pulls your teeth out. I do not know what those on the right have done to get boiled alive. Joking aside, the messages emitted from these these carvings were taken very seriously by the Medieval population.

Pieve di Fornovo, Fornovo, PR

The most prominent feature inside the Pieve is a medieval carving showing the story of Santa Margherita a martire from what is now Turkey. The picture story starts off top right, you go down bottom right and then upwards to the left and then down again. The sequence is very different from our European left to right reading.