Rotonda di San Tomè, Romanesque church in Almenno San Bartolomeo, Italy

The Rotonda di San Tomè is a circular Romanesque church in Almenno San Bartolomeo, built in the early 12th century. It has a central plan with three cylindrical volumes stacked one above the other: the lower space, a women's gallery (matronaeum) with flat pilasters, and a lantern. To the rear are a rectangular presbytery and a semicircular apse. The interior has eight columns in a circle, and the capitals on both floors and the portal are carved with zoomorphic, human and geometric figures.

A centrally planned church existed here by the 10th century; its decayed remains were completely rebuilt in the early 12th century under the bishop of Bergamo, reusing only the foundations, columns and capitals. The presbytery and apse were added around the end of the 12th century. A convent attached to the church was suppressed in July 1407 after moral and financial scandals.

The church gives its name to the Sentiero dell’Agro, a 1.5 km walking and cycling path linking it to Almenno San Bartolomeo. Its courtyard hosts the Mercato Agricolo, selling artisan food, and the Antico Lemine festival, with medieval re-enactments and guided tours in summer.

Access is through one of three entrances, with the main portal on the western side being most prominent. Visitors should expect the interior to feel compact due to the concentric cylinder structure that limits interior space.

On clear days sunlight passes through cross-shaped slits in the walls and projects their image inside; at the equinoxes a ray entering through the lancet window reaches the altar. The capitals of the upper women's gallery carry carved animals, human figures and biblical scenes, while several ground-floor capitals were reused upside down as column bases.