Chiesa parrocchiale dei Santi Pietro e Paolo, Romanesque Revival church in Castello Roganzuolo, Italy
The Chiesa parrocchiale dei Santi Pietro e Paolo stands on the highest hill of Castello Roganzuolo at 119 m, built on the foundations of the medieval Castello di Reggenza. Its Romanesque Revival facade of the 1890s is a simple gabled front with a small rose window, two crescent-shaped side windows and four thin half-columns flanking the wooden portal. Eight arches on the slope, called casteàri, extend the churchyard about thirty metres.
The building originated as a castle chapel in the 12th century and received its first major expansion in 1490. A further extension was completed in 1898, giving it much of its present form.
The presbytery walls and the four bays of the ribbed vault carry a fresco cycle of about 1535 by Francesco da Milano, centred on the deeds of Saints Peter and Paul. The backdrop shows a ruined stone tower rising to God the Father, read as the rock of Peter and as the rebirth of the parish after the castle's destruction in 1337. The interior also holds works by Titian and Francesco Frigimelica the elder.
The location sits on a hillside and is reached via a tree-lined path that accommodates both pedestrians and vehicles. Access is straightforward whether arriving on foot or by car.
The presbytery and bell tower are the only surviving parts of the medieval Castello di Reggenza, destroyed in 1337; the former castle chapel became the church choir. The 1535 fresco cycle by Francesco da Milano on the cross-vaulted ceiling shows a ruined tower topped by God the Father, read as a reference to the castle ruins and to Saint Peter, the rock on which the Church was built.
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