Pieve di Sant'Andrea

The Pieve of S. Andrea is located within the current cemetery of Sommacampagna, at the site of the oldest settlement of the capital, where there was probably a Roman temple dedicated to the goddess Diana.

In the 8th or 9th century, a barbarian church was built, while the current pieve dates back to the 11th or 12th century. The altar dedicated to the goddess Leituria, that is, Diana, found during restoration work in 1940, is placed under a column. Like other altars and Roman inscriptions used as bases for columns or walls, perhaps overturned, it testifies to the triumph of Christianity over paganism. The church consists of a single altar, three apses, two of which were built later than the main one, and three naves with thick short columns made of masonry with pebbles mixed with bricks, topped with cubic capitals of a schematic shape made of the same material. The Pieve of S. Andrea features numerous decorations from various eras.

Present are: paintings from the Romanesque period, the oldest, often fragmentary or very damaged; paintings executed between the 13th and 14th centuries, including the large Last Judgment; paintings executed in the 14th century, among which the works attributed to the Master of Sommacampagna stand out (a name given to a traveling workshop active in the second half of the 14th century between Trentino, Lombardy, and Veneto); the painting with S. Andrea (or San Pietro) probably from the 16th century.

The current appearance of the pieve is almost similar to the original; the facade has a small cross window; along the walls were small slanted windows and three entrances.

The bell tower was built after the church, which was originally without one, but was demolished in 1853 and replaced by the current small belfry. During these works, the projecting part of the lateral apses was also demolished, which were closed off with a wall inside. The ceiling that we see today is not the original but a reconstruction from the 15th century. From the mid-16th century onward, Sant’Andrea no longer serves as a parish because religious functions moved to the church of Santa Maria Addolorata, located in the current main square of the village.

The church is open for visits on the first Sunday of the month, from 9 AM to 1 PM, coinciding with the Earth Market.