Parish Church of Santa Maria

On the north side wall, as on the opposite one to the south, the pilaster strips are not set at equal distances, just as the arched corbels at the top are not all of the same width; one of the pilaster strips bears the same type of decoration with transverse bricks already noted on two pilaster strips of the apse area. On this side there are three narrow splayed single-light windows with jambs and arch in small red bricks, closed by a thin slab of alabaster (see photo of single-light window) . On the south side wall, the masonry broadly repeats the arrangement of the façade and of the north side wall, here too with three splayed single-light windows closed by a thin slab of alabaster and a break in the flat masonry obtained with the usual small bricks laid in a diamond pattern. In addition, as a further opening, near the apse area, there is a door, square-headed on the outside and with a round arch at the top on the inside. On the outside, above this entrance, a small brick with radiating decoration is set into the wall, perhaps the mark of the kiln that produced part of the brick materials used in the construction of the church, while on the right there is a small plaque recalling the exterior restoration of the church carried out in 1995-96. Towards the façade, several funerary and commemorative tablets of different periods are also set into the wall. The masonry of the bell tower of S. Maria, as regards the section incorporated in the outer wall of the church, is practically identical in its construction to the masonry of the outer walls; only to the east, just above the probable extension of the south pitch of the church roof, which here, because of the presence of the tower, is truncated and shorter than the opposite north pitch, does the laying of the bricks become slightly rougher and less careful in the arrangement of the horizontal courses. This slight difference could be a sign that the tower was raised after the time of the Romanesque construction, while still belonging to the building phase in the Romanesque taste. The eaves of the side walls show evident signs of the bricks having been reset, indicating rebuilding and restoration and the raising of the roof. The gabled façade (see photo of façade) has a square-headed entrance portal surmounted by a slightly projecting porch in white and pink Verona stone, with a double-pitched canopy sheltering a lunette that is now without decoration. Blocks of light-coloured stone form the jambs and lintel of the portal (scholars date these architectural details to 1332). Above the entrance is a rose window, perhaps contemporary with the portal. Below the apex of the roof pitches there is a small cross-shaped window, emphasised by small decorative motifs of bricks set in a sawtooth pattern (see photo of top) . The roof lines are marked by a double moulding of small red bricks, while just below runs the usual cornice of blind arches which in this case, however, are clearly different from one another and arranged with little symmetry. There are six pilaster strips, and the two running beside the portal are wider than the others. The corners also project and look like wide pilaster strips. Unlike the other sides of the church, the façade makes more restrained use of brick inserts laid in herringbone pattern. The interior is very dark and neither the six single-light windows of the side walls nor the rose window of the façade lessen the atmosphere of mystical recollection that characterises the space. The rough masonry repeats the same motifs found on the exterior, being composed of blocks of different materials alternating with the various types of brick laid in horizontal courses, both in herringbone pattern and vertically (this arrangement, however, is used less than on the exterior), which lighten the wall masses, making them slightly more dynamic. The space is a single hall covered by trusses (the work of recent restoration) and with the three semicircular apses to the east that reflect the exterior arrangement (the two minor apses are shallow) (see photo of nave) . The floor is of terracotta, made of tiles of different sizes, especially towards the south, probably laid in the post-medieval period. The rectangular west portal, the work of restoration, is recessed beneath a large round arch in terracotta. The lunette shows no sign of decoration. The central apse is introduced by two composite half-columns made of brick supporting the moulding of the triumphal arch. The bay in front of the south apse, occupied on the outside by the bell tower, has a monumental column, also of brick, which supports two round arches, one facing the side wall and the other the presbytery area, forming the foundations of the bell tower. Both this column and the two apse half-columns end in a simple, strongly projecting monolithic corbel of white stone (see photo of interior) . The remains of fresco, which unfortunately survive only in fragments, nevertheless indicate that the walls must have been decorated with painting cycles of much greater extent. Most of the fragments have survived in the presbytery area and on the south wall near the inner façade, where two frontal female figures facing each other are still visible: only the upper parts of the bodies remain visible, while the lower parts have been irretrievably lost. Within a triple band of red, white and green, which acts as a frame, against a dark blue and ochre background, on the left appears a crowned female saint with long dark hair; her dress is dark with a decoration of small circles that follows Byzantine-style motifs, her left hand is stretched out towards the female figure opposite and in her right hand she holds a kind of rod, perhaps a stylised sceptre, a sign of royalty. The other figure, also female and with fine facial features, turned towards the saint-queen, has her head, centred within a golden halo, and her shoulders covered by a white veil decorated with small motifs; she also wears a black tunic and her right hand, resting on her breast, seems to clasp a fish or a bird, while her left hand, laid on her belly, appears to hold a small chain. To the right of these two figures, in a separate panel, but likewise framed by a triple band of red, white and green, much abraded, appears the figure of a male saint; the two panels would seem to have been painted at the same time, since they do not overlap. Scholars date this fresco to the 12th century. Another frescoed section, roughly contemporary with the one described above according to scholars, is preserved near the north apse, on the side wall. Here too little remains. Within a frame of red and green bands separated by a thin white line, against a blue background, two faces can be seen: on the left a saint, of good workmanship, with a conspicuous beard and a red tunic; at the top in the centre, a medallion framing another figure of a bearded saint with a green cloak resting on his left shoulder and a pinkish-red tunic, who with his right hand perhaps points to a tomb or a dwelling; just below, part of a wing remains visible, perhaps belonging to an angelic figure (the extensive losses of paint do not allow a clear reading); this complex scene was probably meant to depict some miraculous event. Particular attention is deserved by the face of the saint on the left which, compared with the faces of the female saints on the south side wall, shows a more careful execution in the rendering of the facial features. Here the linearity and flat essentiality of the features of the two female saints are lost and the line is enriched with shading and modelling (see photo of fresco, detail) . The greater care in the rendering of details may be attributed not only to the better state of preservation, but to the work of a different artist, of more refined training and probably of a later date, even though, broadly speaking, the range of colours used in the two painted fragments is fairly similar. Below this scene a headless figure of rather crude execution can also be seen; its white tunic and right hand remain visible. Towards the semi-dome of the small apse there remain, much abraded, the remains of another, almost illegible figure of a saint. A moulding introduces the semicircle of the north apse, which must have been entirely frescoed: unfortunately a conspicuous area of chiselling in the centre has irretrievably disfigured the scene (certainly a consequence of the rebuilding of the apse area in the 18th century). On the sides the remains of two figures of saints remain visible: on the left part of a halo and the white-haired head of a figure with a purple tunic; on the right the remains of a haloed face, a green cloak and a red tunic. Somewhat better preserved, in the centre of the semi-dome, is the face of a Christ in a red, white and green shell-shaped frame, centred within a halo with a processional cross. Perhaps the scene depicted was a Crucifixion. The stretch of wall above this apse also preserves traces of fresco, unfortunately so deteriorated as not to allow any interpretative hypothesis, other than being further confirmation of how extensive the painted decoration must have been that once covered the whole of the east end. In the centre of the main apse, which has no decoration, stands the sculpture of the Madonna della Misericordia with her cloak open (it was probably originally painted), sheltering below a series of praying figures: on her head she wears a royal crown. As already mentioned, this work of good execution is attributed to the first half of the 14th century. In the small south apse too there are traces of fresco, again much damaged, where the figure of a saint holding a scroll can be made out. Other scanty painted fragments are found near the south side entrance. The altar, in the centre of the main apse, is of modern workmanship.