Small temple on the Clitunno

Considered one of the most interesting early medieval monuments of Umbria, it is among the seven jewels of Lombard art and architecture in Italy which have recently been included in the prestigious list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites . Among the most attractive elements of the visit is the suggestive position, already described by Pliny the Younger as a place covered by "ancient and shady cypress trees at the foot of which a spring flows which forms a small lake". The building, which reuses architectural elements from the Roman age perhaps pertaining to the structures of a previous sanctuary dedicated to the god Clitumnus (a deity identified with Jupiter), has the shape of a classical temple: it rests on a high podium with a front made up of four Corinthian columns ( tetrastyle pronaos) which supports the entablature on which runs the inscription dedicating the church to the "God of angels". The interior, which is accessed via two lateral staircases, has an apse with complex decoration where relief sculpture (originally polychrome) and frescoes with a Christian theme (Christ blessing, Saint Peter, Saint Paul, Angels with Gemmated Cross) combine. , dated to the 8th century. AD The small aedicule-tabernacle in the center of the apse reuses sculptural elements from the 1st century. AD Long believed to be a Roman shrine, the building has been the subject of numerous interpretations regarding its construction phases. A first dating proposal sees it built in the 4th-5th century. AD, as a church dedicated to S. Salvatore. Recent studies, however, have allowed us to limit the chronology of the building to the Lombard age, with an oscillation between the beginning of the 7th and the full 8th century.