Church of San Sivino

Currently, the chapel is not accessible to the public so the inside cannot be visited. The surrounding area, however, can be reached on foot and is an interesting destination for those who want to explore places off the beaten track.

The Chapel of San Sivino is located in San Sivino, in the hamlet of Gardoncino, within the territory of Manerba del Garda. It is surrounded by a natural landscape of fields, olive groves and paths, not far from the southern shores of Lake Garda.

Dedicated to San Sivino, the church’s fame is linked to the legend of the miller Marco and his pact with the devil, who, according to tradition, left his footprints on the church wall.

Legend has it that, in around the year 1200, a miller named Marco arrived in this area from the Valle del Chiese. When he noticed a spring of water coming down from the hill towards the lake, he decided to buy the land to build a mill there.

Business went well. A large fraction of the population of Moniga was supplied by him, whilst the rest was serviced by another miller located on the extreme border of the town. After two years, however, the water dried up. Work stopped and a rival miller built a second mill. Marco, desperate, turned to San Sivino, without success.

That was when he decided to ask the devil for help after meeting him disguised as a friar, just as he was leaving the church. Despite Marco’s doubts and perplexities, the ‘friar’ managed to convince him that in exchange for Marco’s soul after death, he would guarantee the desperate miller abundant water.

Marco signed the pact. Resting his hand on a stone, he felt a tremendous heat in his arm. Black smoke came billowing out and the stone, now soft as wax, now bore the imprint of his hand. The devil then stepped on it, leaving a clear and perfect footprint. The friar disappeared and, in his place, suddenly appeared a handsome knight in shimmering steel armour, riding a sumptuous horse with a shabrack embroidered with gold and precious stones. In a solemn tone, the knight ordered Marco not to reveal what had happened. The miller immediately realised that he had made a serious mistake and sought refuge in faith.

He bolted to the church to plead San Sivino for help but an arcane force prevented him from crossing the threshold, despite repeated attempts. Back at the mill, he saw the channel full of water and the wheel spinning in a whirl. Work resumed at full speed, leading to the construction of a second mill and the accumulation of many gold coins.

One day, however, Marco fell from a steep staircase whilst carrying a lot of wheat on his shoulders, causing several fractures. The doctor declared that there was no hope of recovery, so a priest was called. Marco told him his entire story, asking God for forgiveness and promising to donate all his wealth to the Church. In the presence of witnesses, just as Marco was declaring the Church as the beneficiary of his assets and received absolution, a hellish roar made the house tremble and a column of smoke and flames came hissing out of the fireplace. Marco was dead.

After preparing the corpse, people searched the house for the gold but none was found. The chest had disappeared with the devil. The priest, having understood that the devil should not be messed with, had a cross carved on the stone, between the imprint of the hand and that of the foot.

A more realistic hypothesis on the origin of these imprints is that advanced by Fabio Gaggia, an expert in local history. According to him, they symbolise a pact signed in 1530 to resolve a debt between the Municipality of Padenghe (represented by the foot) and that of Manerba (the hand), following the huge costs incurred to defend against military invasions. The same hand carved on the entrance door could represent the five “trazioni” (or, subdivisions) of the territory that extends from here and, at the same time, gives credence to those who assume that the name Manerba derives from “mano d’erba” (“hand of grass”) instead of from the goddess Minerva.

The structure, typical of rustic Lombard churches, has a single room that runs longitudinally and a simple gabled structure. It is built with load-bearing perimeter walls and two large transverse arches, on which rests an exposed wooden beam that supports the double-pitched tiled roof. The main façade, also gabled, bears a central oculus (now closed) and a portal framed in stone, as are the two side windows.

On the south side is a walled entrance with stone jambs that preserve curious imprints of a hand, a foot and a Greek cross that, according to a local legend, date back to the 13ᵗʰ century, as miraculous traces left by a saint. As evidence of an additional structure that has been lost to time, you can still see the remains of a shrine.

Inside, the space is marked by two large arches – one round and one slightly ogival – which lead to the apse, covered by a gabled vault. Behind the altar is a fresco, dating between the 17ᵗʰ and 18ᵗʰ centuries, depicting a tabernacle with two figures of saints and the inscription “Ecce Sacerdos Magnus”. In the centre is a compartment that probably guarded the consecrated species.