Tuscany Tour - Day 6 and 7
Bardone in Emilia-Romagna
Yesterday, we spent the day quite calmly and lazily by Lake Maggiore in Tenero.
This morning, after breakfast, we leisurely drove about 260 km from Tenero in Switzerland to Bardone in Italy. Here, we will have a stopover before heading to Tuscany tomorrow.
We are wonderfully quiet behind the cemetery of the small village. I suppose the direct neighbors won't disturb us tonight 😉.
Bardone is located in the municipality of Terenzo in the province of Parma and has a mere 30 inhabitants.
This tiny place is situated on a plateau on the east side of Monte Prinzera and on the left side of the Sporzana Valley.
The first settlement of Bardone emerged at the latest in the first half of the 6th century and lies on the ancient Roman road between Parma and Luni. This road gained strategic importance during the Lombard period as it was the only connection between the Po Valley and Tuscany.
The original chapel in early Christian style was built during that time and was remodeled several times over the centuries, also due to the growing significance of the road, which was known in the Middle Ages as the Via di Monte Bardone and was used for centuries by numerous pilgrims from Northern Europe to Rome.
Today, the church (Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta) in Bardone is a structure difficult to interpret. Traces of various historical epochs are combined in a building whose current floor plan, with an apse-shaped hall and four chapels on each side, dates back to the extensive renovation between 1640 and 1670. Recent archaeological excavations have shown that the church of Bardone has very ancient origins.
Inside the church, sculptures of unclear origin have been preserved. Some of them (the slabs of the entombment and the glorification of Saint Margaret, the statues of Saints Peter and Paul, as well as the lion pillars, all of which can be dated to the first two decades of the 13th century) come from the parish church of Fornovo, where they formed a sculptural pulpit that was dismantled at the end of the 16th century.
Unfortunately, the church is only open to visitors from June to September or during regular services.
Thus, we couldn't visit the church with its sculptures and other objects.
Tomorrow morning, we will then head towards Lucca.
