The parish church of Serravalle is the only one of the parish churches in the province of Parma to have a baptistery; it is located in the hamlet of the same name, in the territory of Varano de’ Melegari and is named after San Lorenzo. The parish church was built on an ancient pagan temple, dedicated to the goddess Diana by a member of the “gens Vibullia” (witnessed by a votive altar once preserved in the baptistery and now in the Archaeological Museum of Parma).

The church of Serravalle no longer preserves anything of its ancient origins: it suffered a ruinous collapse in the fourteenth century and a series of restoration works in the eighteenth, nineteenth and 1927. The church is modest in size, the facade, typically gabled, is almost entirely plastered, and on its sides protrude the side chapels. Inside, the cross vaults cover the nave while the cornice is supported by capitals in Doric style. Outside the church on the left side stands the twentieth-century bell tower in blocks of sandstone.

The baptistery is dated by some scholars to the IX-X century, by others to the Lombard era (VII-VIII century); it has the typical octagonal shape. The octagon symbolises both the eighth day, that of baptism, but it is also an intermediate figure between the square, representing the earth and the human dimension, and the circle, which is the perfect figure representing the sky and the divine dimension.

The baptistery is built of squared sandstone, the doors were made at different times and four narrow single-lancet windows allow light to enter the interior. The interior walls were originally to be painted, as well as the capitals that are at the base of both cylindrical and square columns. The altar table is supported by two pillars of reuse that bring recurrent decorations in the art of the eighth century and present in this area. The baptismal font, located in the middle of the room, is instead of recent workmanship.

CATEGORIA
Mountain parish churches
INDIRIZZO
Via Provinciale, 86/A
43040 Serravalle
Italia