Church

The first written document on the history of the entire area, and especially of Badia, is a foundation stone dating back to 1040. This attests to the construction, in 1040, of a monastery by the Bishop of Verona Walter of Ulm, on Mount San Pietro (mt. 675).

The building complex mainly consisted of the actual castle, which was also, for some time, a summer residence of the bishops of Verona, and the adjoining little church of San Pietro Apostolo, a sacred place for those who lived there. It became the residence of German monks of the Order of Saint Benedict and was transformed into the small monastery mentioned in a rental rules document of 1133 and in a Papal Bull of Eugene III from 1145, where the “Monasterium Sancti Petri de Calavena” is clearly cited.

The Abbey was called “of Calavena” because it arose in the valley piece known as “Calavena.” The name of the underlying village (current capital) derives from this “Badia della Calavena.”

Between the 14th and 15th centuries, the monastery of Calavena experienced a period of decline, which favored the Pieve of Tregnago, located in a more central position compared to the vast Benedictine domain. By 1381, at the end of the Scaliger rule, only the Church of San Pietro remained at the highest point of the hill.

In 1891, it was completely demolished and rebuilt after the earthquake: thus, a new and modern Church was established, with a superb bell tower adorned with Ghibelline battlements. The author of the reconstruction was the architect priest Don Gianbattista Stizzoli.