The Church of Santa Maria Assunta
Una chiesa storica nel punto più alto del Borgo Storico di Savignano
At the highest point of the castle, namely the highest part of Savignano, you can see the Chiesa Parrocchiale di Santa Maria Assunta. Documents from 1027 and 1033 attest the church’s existence in this period. However, the structure we see today dates back to 1746. In this same year the church was in fact restored and dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta.
The exterior has a rather understated appearance whereas the interior has a barrel-vaulted nave and crossed by five shrines. The walls are decorated with frescoes by di Pietro Villo, Celeste, Angelo Bergamini, and Ugo Lucerni da Parma.
Inside the church, you can admire precious works of art and ornamental pieces starting with a spendid Via Crucis in polychrome terracotta of The Bolognese School from the first half of the 18th Century. In the Cappella della Madonna del Rosario, there is a painting from the 1700’s by Paolo Varrotti of Bologna, depicting the SS. Caterina da Siena e Domenico, while in the Cappella del SS. Crocifisso, there is a painting by Francesco Vellani of Modena which depicts SS. Antonio Abate, Francesco d'Assisi, Antonio da Padova and Biagio Martire.
Finally, in the old chapel of the Concezione, there is the remarkable original plaster sculpture, The Compianto by Giuseppe Graziosi (1879 - 1942), the famous sculptor of Savignano.
In the early years of the 1800’s, construction work was started on the new bell tower, built to replace the old belfry. Finished in 1813, it was built using materials from the old walls and with the only brick cusp.