Pieve di San Giovanni in Ottavo e cripta
The Parish Church “S. Giovanni in Ottavo” (locally known as “Pieve del Tho”) is located one kilometre from Brisighella on the road to Florence and it’s the oldest church in the Lamone valley.
This church comes to us from a remote past and its origin dates back to Gallia Placidia, the daughter of Emperor Theodosius, who probably had it built with the remains of a temple dedicated to Jupiter Ammone. An exact age of the church can’t be fixed yet, but it was probably built between the VIIIth and the Xth century.
This church is called “In ottavo” due to its location at the eighth mile of the Roman road (“Via Faventina” as named in the Roman road network “Peutinger table”), connecting Faenza with Tuscany.
This impressive church is built in the Romanic style, with a basilica plant, three aisles divided by arches resting over twelve marble columns, all different in thickness and colour (probably due to the use of materials from older buildings. The walls of the central nave on the outer side are covered with valuable decorative works. A roman stone carved with an inscription devoted to the four Emperors of the Age of Decline (376-378), a stone slab, a ceramic funeral gravestone (XVII cent.), frescoes and a Corinthian capital used as a font, are all signs of how old is this “Mother-Church” of the Lamone Valley.
Opening hours from 15th april to 15th october sunday 15,00 – 18,00. From 16th october to 14th april 14,30 – 16,30.
From 9th June up to 12th September 2015 the Church will be open every Tuesday do Saturday from 15,30 – 17,30 (except for local weddings)
Photo Stefania Baldassarri