Pieve di Berceto

The parish church (Duomo) of Berceto was originally dedicated to San Abbondio and later to San Moderanno, the holy bishop of Rennes. The first testimonies concerning the existence of the parish are documented in the writings of Paolo Diacono, the ”Historia Longobardorum”, in which it is specified that King Liutprando ”monasterium quod Bercetum dicitur aedificavit”. Later, Sigeric, Archbishop of Canterbury, in the account of the journey that was taking him on a pilgrimage to Rome in 990, appoints the task (stop for pilgrims) on the Via Francigena “Sancte Moderane”.

The Romanesque facade, rebuilt in 1845, has a splayed portal with a round arch that encloses a lunette: here is represented Christ on the cross with soldiers and Longino piercing him, while a character collects the blood in an amphora. On the other side of the cross that divides the representation in two (to the right of Christ) are depicted the Madonna and Saints Moderanno and Abbondio.

In the lintel below are represented by various animals the vices of men. In the left side of the church, at the sides of the portal, you can see two figures, are the saints Peter and Paul: the first, the “stone” on which Jesus founded the Church, the second, the apostle of the people, the first true disseminator of the Christian message.

A theme linked to the Via Romea is depicted in the lunette of the side portal: the adoration of the Magi. The Magi were in fact perceived as the forerunners of any later pilgrimage. Inside, the cathedral of Berceto is divided into three naves by mighty columns.

Inserted into the altar is a tombstone dating from the eighth century, decorated with peacocks on either side of a cross. The peacock, first a pagan and then a Christian, symbolised immortality and therefore leads back to the discourse of life beyond earthly life. In the 15th century, when Berceto was in the orbit of the Rossi family, the temple underwent a stylistic transformation: the noble family’s “signature” was affixed to the capitals – a rampant lion – and the arches became pointed arches instead of the Romanesque ones.

In 1971, following archaeological excavations carried out inside the church, a valuable glass chalice was found in a tomb (probably before the year 1000): today it is kept in excellent condition in the Cathedral Museum, which we recommend to visit.