Pieve di Bazzano

The parish church of Sant’Ambrogio is in Bazzano, a hamlet of Neviano degli Arduini, in an elevated and central area between the Enza and Termina streams. Some documents attest to its existence as early as 921 and in 1005 it was mentioned for the first time as a parish church. During the 12th century it already had a three-nave structure with a traditional east-west orientation, which then changed into its present form in the 16th and 17th centuries, following restoration work.

The original Romanesque layout, dating back to the 11th century, is still recognisable under the Renaissance additions, despite the numerous reconstructions that began in the 6th century. In the centre of the façade, entirely covered in stone like the rest of the building, there is the main entrance portal, while on the sides there are the two secondary entrances. Outside the building, on the left and in continuity with the internal chapels, we find the twentieth-century loggia of the fallen, while on the right side of the church stands the nineteenth-century bell tower with an octagonal spire.

Inside, the naves are covered with plastered cross vaults dating back to 1600, supported by square pillars with Doric capitals. The baptismal font is the oldest find preserved inside the church, it dates to the seventh or eighth century and is one of the most important evidence of Romanesque sculpture in Emilia. The object is composed of a monolithic stone block, octagonal in shape, placed on a brick base. Each side, separated by semi-columns with capitals, is decorated with figures: The Virgin, St. John, Christ, two doves, the announcing angel, the Agnus Dei, a cleric, a rampant beast (perhaps a lion). The shape of the octagon is obtained from the fusion of the square (symbol of the earth) and the circle (symbol of the sky) and represented in the Middle Ages the totality of the Universe. The number eight, moreover, traditionally symbolizes the theme of Baptism.