The Pieve di Ranzano stands at the gates of the Valle dei Cavalieri on a river terrace not far from the river Enza. According to historical documents, the first parish church was built in 1070 and was trussed with exposed stone walls. The outer walls were surmounted by stone frames, with carved arches and corbels. The façade formed a whole with the bell tower.
Today the structure has a gabled façade and is flanked by two lower buildings, in line with it, which contain the side chapels and service rooms. The cornice at the top has a mistylinear shape and surmounts a series of intertwined Romanesque arches that run along the entire perimeter of the outer walls.
On the facade there are also two slabs on either side of the portal and one above it depicting the evangelist Matthew with the appearance of an angel, while the side slabs represent the winged lion of St. Mark and the winged bull, symbol of St. Luke.
The building is made of exposed stone, where you can see the various phases of construction, and brick in the pilasters, in the arches along the cornice, in the lunettes of the single lancet windows, in the frames of the reliefs of the facade and the oculus.
Inside the building has a single nave with two side chapels on each side, a semicircular apse raised above the hall and transept. The interior is devoid of decorations: along the nave, up to a height of about two meters, runs a stone plinth, while everything else is plastered and painted in shades of white and beige.
If you look at the parish church from the main road from which you arrive, you can clearly see the profile of the Pietra di Bismantova on the horizon.
The church is dedicated to Santo Stefano Protomartire.
43025 Ranzano
