The original parish church of Collecchio (from “Colliculum”, a small hill, referring to its position, on the first hills) dedicated to San Prospero, dates back to the 11th century (as evidenced by the date “graffita” on the slab with the rough figures of a cross and a dove). This church must have had a three-nave basilica plan. In the 13th century the existing building was enlarged to include it in a structure with three naves with three apses in Romanesque-Lombard style, the layout of which is found in the current building. Other interventions were also carried out from the sixteenth century.
Some sculptural examples of this original phase remain, particularly in the capitals of the naves with sirens and griffins. The tripartite facade with salient features a prothyrum above which opens a rose window, the facade is the result of restoration work carried out in the first half of the twentieth century. The apse area is also the result of a reconstruction: specially the semicircular side apses while the central square one, decorated with pilasters and hanging arches, has an ancient masonry.
Inside there is a baptismal font decorated with interwoven arches (you can see [look for it!] a stylized rosette, an indication of belonging to the antelamic school). Above is a slab in which is represented the baptism of Christ, dating from the late twelfth century: Christ, with the nimbus crusted, is immersed up to the back in the river Jordan, the sides of the Baptist and an angel, above the dove.
Separated from the church, as is typical of the Romanesque tradition, the bell tower, although also built in the twentieth century.
43044 Collecchio
