The Pieve di Careno rises isolated on a plain halfway up the coast and is surrounded by a stone portico used to welcome the masses of the faithful. In this church there was a great turnout of faithful on the occasion of the feast of August 15th in honour of Our Lady, when the Virgin Mary was invoked against demonic possessions and mental discomfort.
The parish church located in the area of Pellegrino Parmense, divided between the dioceses of Piacenza and Parma, was often subject to several changes of jurisdiction. Today’s building shows all the signs of the many transformations to which it has been subjected.
The facade, extensively restored, is marked by pilasters with crowning arches that continue in part of the side walls.
Inside, the apse and part of the wall face are in stone ashlars arranged in courses. The aisles are a riot of colours thanks to the frescoes that adorn the walls; in the first span of the left aisle you can admire a Madonna enthroned with child and in the right side wall a Madonna with child, St. Rocco and St. Anne; on the wall to the left of the apse, the Eternal Father and St. Francis.
The cycle of frescoes was dated around 1485. In 1902 the church was declared a Marian shrine.
The parish church is dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta.
Careno
