Church of San Cipriano in Calvisio

Archaeology of an ancient rural church in Finale

The Church of San Cipriano, with its medieval bell tower, rises on the western slope of the San Bernardino hill that overlooks the Sciusa valley and is close to the inhabited nucleus of Calvisio Vecchia, also known as “Lacremà” (its medieval name).

The archaeological excavation that took place within the church brought to light an uninterrupted sequence of churches starting from a small early medieval religious building, subsequent to the 5^th-6^th century.

MORE INFORMATION – Church of San Cipriano in Calvisio

A second Romanesque church with two flanked apses was built between the 11^th and 12^th century.

The bell tower, the most ancient one in Finale, belongs to a slightly later period and had a series of mullioned windows with “crutch shaped” capitals. Only the belfry and the steeple are from the modern era.

During the 14^th-15^th century the Romanesque church was turned into a large church with three naves with a colonnade with Finale stone capitals.

Finally, the structure underwent renovations becoming a baroque building with a single hall with painted stucco decorations starting from 1704 and in the subsequent century an apse was added.

In 1932 the seat of the parish was moved further down the valley where a new neo-medieval style church, dedicated to Saints Cornelio and Cipriano, was built.