Our next stop in northern Italy is the small hill town of San Giorgio in the Valpolicella region near Verona. We stopped to see San Giorgio's ancient church known as a pieve. Construction of the church started in the 600's when the area accepted Christianity and it was completed 400 years later. The church was likely built on top of a pagan temple. The church is called a pieve because it was the center of a rural religious district and had an attached baptistery.
The Pieve di San Giorgio is a wonderful example of a middle ages Romanesque church with thick stone walls, a low roof, narrow windows and minimal decoration.
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| Pieve di San Giorgio: exterior of the church, with the bell tower |
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| Pieve di San Giorgio: diagram of the church |
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| Pieve di San Giorgio: photo of the Basamento di ara funeraria romana (Roman funeral base) (item D in the diagram above) |
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| Pieve di San Giorgio: the nave of the church |
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| Pieve di San Giorgio: a fresco of the Last Supper |
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| Pieve di San Giorgio: the ancient altar of the church (the ciborium) |
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| Pieve di San Giorgio: the baptismal font |
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| The view from the front of the church, with terraced hillsides and Lake Garda barely visible in the distance |
Since we were in the Valpolicella wine region, following our visit to San Giogio, we stopped in the nearby Masi winery for a tour, lunch and a tasting. For lunch, we enjoyed salad, cheese and meat, and three wines, including a wonderful Amarone.
We toured the winery and saw some very large casks pictured below. The casks on the top row hold 250 liters of wine while the casks on the bottom row hold 500 liters.
Below, Susan is ready to enjoy wine from the 5,000-liter cask.
Needless to say, we enjoyed our visit to San Giorgio and the nearby winery.
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