Church of San Zeno

The masonry of this part of the church (see photo of north side) appears fairly homogeneous, built in the lower parts with fairly large stones, mostly light in colour, squared and laid in courses of mortar one and a half to two centimetres thick, which in the upper parts become smaller and less worked, with pebbles inserted. On the basis of these slight differences, a different phase of execution might be hypothesised, although they could simply be parts built with another, rougher material, but still belonging to the same construction period. On closer examination, however, signs of breaks in the masonry can be identified: horizontally a separation is visible, especially in the area near the façade, at a height of about 3 metres, extending for 5–6 metres in length, and it is emphasised by a sort of horizontal fillet; vertically, on the other hand, although more difficult to identify, between the two blocked doors the masonry near the apse area is laid more roughly and the blocks become smaller and less worked, bound by thicker layers of mortar, which suggests an extension of the building towards the east, still in the Romanesque period, with the construction of the new apse. On the corresponding, opposite stretch of the south side wall this difference is not visible, because of the addition, at an even later date, of the sacristy room. Also on the north side, there are two walled-up doors raised about half a metre above the present ground level. The first, towards the east, surmounted by a semicircular monolithic lunette with a cross in relief in the centre, has jambs made of large blocks of the same material used for the construction of the apse; the second, a couple of metres from the first and larger, has a monolithic lintel and jambs formed of pinkish stones. Besides these two walled-up doors, the north side has three other openings: above the door with the cross there is a square window with a brick splay, probably built after the Romanesque construction. A couple of metres beyond the other door, there is a very narrow window, almost an arrow slit and, continuing towards the west, there is a splayed single-light window with a monolithic arch at the top which should date from the Romanesque construction. The façade (photo 8 - façade) is the part of the building that shows the most conspicuous rebuilding carried out in the post-medieval period. The upper parts are completely plastered; there are two openings clearly made in more recent times: a square-headed portal, as the entrance to the church, and a large window with a segmental arch. The masonry of the lower parts, as far as it remains visible, repeats in the composition of the blocks the same features noted on the north side; only the corners are made of larger stones. The south side wall (see photo of south side) , in the sector near the façade, while broadly keeping the same rustic arrangements in exposed stone found on the north side, reveals a more complex assortment of materials: dark pebbles and bricks also appear, without repeating the pattern of larger stones in the lower parts gradually becoming smaller in the upper parts. The eaves, as indeed on the north side wall, show restoration work due to the rebuilding of the roofing. There is only one single-light window, splayed, with a monolithic arch, better preserved than the northern one (photo 10 - single-light window). A special feature is a large arch, now walled up, with a square-headed door inserted when the arch itself was closed. Scholars state that as late as the early years of the 20th century there was a portico here or a room of unclear function; as proof, a couple of metres above the top of the arch there remain projecting blocks bearing witness to the old attachment of a roof, just as a stump of foundation projecting from the west wall of the sacristy room would confirm the presence of this room, perhaps also including the present service room, since the foundations of the latter would seem to belong to the medieval period rather than to the post-medieval rebuilding. The material used in the frame of the arch is of the same type as that used in the apse. The section of masonry just above, built with well-squared stones laid in little mortar, also shows a type of construction that can be associated with that of the apse. Inside the arch, towards the east, remains of fresco survive (a half-figure of a saint, recognisable by the halo) that cannot be identified more precisely. As for the sacristy room, apart from the east side, the masonry is difficult to read because of the thick layer of plaster that covers it: the stretches visible where the plaster has flaked off show construction in irregular blocks mixed with various kinds of brick, haphazardly laid in thick layers of mortar. Overall, the building arrangements of the side walls of this pieve emphasise the features of rural medieval buildings in exposed stone, although S. Zeno at Lonato reveals a constructional evolution made up of several phases, all datable within the 11th and 12th centuries, but belonging to different periods, as would be shown by the apse, the small heads under the eaves of the north side and the walled-up arch of the south side wall; whereas the present sacristy room, the bell gable, the west entrance portal and the large window above it are certainly post-Romanesque. The interior has kept practically nothing of the old structures of the Romanesque period and shows evident signs of the 16th–17th-century restorations (photo 11 - interior). The floor, made of brick tiles, also of recent date, slopes slightly towards the west with respect to the apse area: the difference in level between the two areas is about half a metre; some steps raise this area further, to the point of suggesting the presence of an underground room (not yet verified archaeologically). The walls are covered by a heavy layer of white plaster; three large transverse arches, resting on piers set against the outer walls, divide the interior into four bays. The roof, with exposed beams and bricks, is the work of recent restoration. Just below the point where the roof meets the side walls, corbels project, indicating the old position of the roofing. The apse semicircle, introduced by a moulding, preserves a few fragments of fresco probably datable to the 15th century: between the central and the southern single-light windows a bishop saint can be made out (not otherwise identifiable and rather damaged); next to him, again towards the south and better preserved, appears another bishop saint, perhaps St. Zeno (photo 12 - fresco). Beside it, a few much deteriorated traces of a Madonna and Child remain, and in the bay between the apse semicircle and the sacristy door part of a St. Roch (a hand of the saint can be seen pointing to his leg with the sore caused by leprosy). In a niche, also on this outer wall, just beside the south entrance, there is a holy-water stoup made from a squared monolith of dark stone carved, on its visible side, with two processional crosses side by side, perhaps of the medieval period; opposite, again in a niche made in the wall, is another holy-water stoup in white marble of the Renaissance period. The present altar is formed by a monumental 17th-century altar, of wood painted on all sides and coming from another religious building in Lonato.