Menu :

Histoire

Personnages

Nature

Itinéraires par région

This complex, now in ruins, was an important religious centre in the Middle Ages. A first building was built in the 5th or 6th century, a small basilica (church with three naves) with a baptistery. In the 10th or 11th century, a larger church was built next to the original basilica. The site is listed as a Historic Monument.

This complex, now in ruins, was an important religious centre in the Middle Ages. Santa Maria had the title of piévane church, and it was here that the baptisms of the inhabitants of the piève de Rustinu were celebrated. The term "piève" designates both the church and the religious and territorial unit that depends on it. That of Rustinu included the villages of Bisinchi, Castellu, Castineta, Merusaglia, Salgetu and Valle. Excavated in 1956 by the archaeologist Geneviève Moracchini-Mazel, the site of Riscamone has also revealed numerous ancient remains which confirm an occupation in Roman times. The pre-Romanesque church A first building was built in the 5th or 6th century to evangelise the population. It is a small basilica (church with three naves) with a baptistery. Today, only the flattened walls of this modest building and the cross-shaped baptismal font are visible. The Pious Church of Santa Maria In the 10th or 11th century, a larger church was built next to the original basilica. Its semicircular apse, vaulted in a cul-de-four, still bears witness to the style of this period, with its frieze of arcatures sculpted in limestone (tufa) and its Lombard friezes. In the 12th century, the church was extended (or completed?). The main façade, on the west side, can be dated to this period. Its regular ashlar structure in light colours is different from the apse. The baptistery of St John the Baptist It was also built in the 12th century. Built on unstable ground, this building has deteriorated considerably. However, its octagonal plan is still visible, despite the ground movements that have affected its foundations. This imposing building, almost 11 metres in diameter, has a neat ashlar muratura. Some of the elevations have retained their crown, decorated with a frieze of arcatures resting on sculpted modillions. Originally, the baptistery housed a baptismal font in its centre, topped by a tower that dominated the roof. Two ancient stone tympanums are embedded in the floor of the baptistery. They originally surmounted the two former entrances to the building. Each tympanum is decorated with a carved motif in relief, one representing Adam and Eve and the other a snake biting its tail. The site was abandoned over time. In 1646, the Bishop of Mariana, Monsignor Marliani, indicated that the church of Santa Maria, too far away and inconvenient, had lost its functions as a parish church in favour of an oratory located closer to the community of Valle. The church was definitively abandoned in the 19th century.

Valle-di-Rostino

GRITACCESS:

Contact :