Artistic and Religious Itinerary

Pieve or mother church of all churches and chapels, both in Manerba and in Valtenesi. It is called “Pieve Vecchia”, dedicated to “S. Maria di Tenesi”, the original place-name of the whole hill area.

Its first foundation, with the annexed font, goes back to the early Christian age. Its full functionality is already documented in the Middle Ages. All the churches in Valtenesi referred to Pieve for the main sacraments until the 14th/15th century. It was a parish church until the half of the 18th century, when it ran the risk of being demolished to contribute with its stones towards the construction of the new parish church S. Maria Assunta in Solarolo.

The old Pieve passed on the new church the dedication to the Madonna. Also the precious wooden statue of the Virgin, dating back to the 15th century, was transferred from Pieve to the new church, to testify a continuity of faith and traditions.

The plan of the church consists of a nave and two aisles, divided into round arches and closed by three apses. The façade is composed of a main volume, corresponding to the nave, and of the bodies of the aisles, which are lower and lightly set back. There are some fragments of frescoes dating back to the 14th/15th century. The church was subjected to alteration during the 14th and 17th century. The bell tower, which was erected in front of the façade, dates back to the half of 16th century.

Its origin is likely to date back to the 15th century. The church was first mentioned in the record of the pastoral visit of Bishop Ermolao Barbaro in 1454. It underwent different repairs. The existing building has a single nave and a saddle roof, a quadrangular apse, with side altars of the late Baroque. A fresco portraying the Madonna is kept here in good conditions.

It is named among the chapels of Manerba in the record of the pastoral visit of Bishop Ermolao Barbaro in 1454. It consists of a single nave with saddle roof. In the Renaissance an architraved door was opened on the façade. Precious rose window with brick radial pattern, decorated with circlets.

Presumably it dates back to the end of 14th century. We have knowledge of this chapel only in the first half of the 16th century from a record of the pastoral visit of Bishop Giberti. However the dating is even earlier, as it can be demonstrated both by the dedication to St. George, whose cult spread in the Lombard period and then during the crusades, and by the presence of frescoes of the late 14th century. The church has a single nave and a little Romanesque, semicircular apse. The roofing is simple and the façade was modified at the end of the 16th century. In 1606 a pronao was added for the protection of people. Panoramic position.

The first knowledge dates back to the pastoral visit of Bishop Giberti in 1530. The church belongs to the community of Solarolo. In 1746, on the occasion of the laying of the foundation stone of the parish church of S. Maria Assunta, it ran the risk of being demolished. In fact there was need of material for the new building. When the churchyard was built in 19th century, it became the chapel. It has a single nave, composed of three spans with two round arches, and ends with a square apse with cross vault. Gabled façade, with central brick rose window and portal with lightly pointed arch. Rich of frescoes attributed to the so-called “Maestro of Solarolo”, who worked between the half of 15th century and the beginning of 16th century. The inscription “Manerba 1514” appears with great importance in a badly kept fragment.

It was rebuilt towards the half of the 18th century on a previous building. It belonged to the Order of the Knights of Malta, which was disbanded in the Napoleonic period. Remarkable is the baroque curved line that moves the whole façade some stuccos still remain in the church.

Certainly founded in the early Middle Ages, with later architectural works, the church appears in the list of the churches of Manerba in the document of 1538, date of the pastoral visit of the vicar of Bishop Giberti. It has a single nave with a saddle roof, with a small rose window over the portal. The interior is divided into spans with round arches, which support a roof in full sight. On the façade there is a stone with the prints of a hand and a foot, and a blazon with a cross, that old legends attribute to a satanic presence (it is said that an agreement was made between the devil and the miller Marco from S.Sivino).

It succeeded “Pieve Vecchia” as new parish church. The foundation stone was laid on 20th January 1746. It was consecrated by Bishop Morosini of Verona, on the fourth Easter Sunday 1781, and dedicated to S. Mary of the Assumption. It is located in a high and central position, with a wide square in front of it. The church is in neoclassical style and has a remarkable artistic value. The architectural complex is spacious and solemn, the façade is imposing. The great inner nave is embellished by a precious polychromatic marble altar, great paintings and high sculptures.

In the wall, at the end of the apse, there is the niche keeping the precious wooden statue of the Madonna with Child, transferred from the old Pieve and object of the age-long devotion of the believers of the community. A great organ, built in 1845 by Francesco Marchesini and restored from his son Gaetano in 1890, completes the harmonious framework.