A fascinating itinerary to discover the pievi (parish churches) of Bassa Romagna to understand the history of its countryside and how it has changed from the Byzantine exarchate (VI century) until the birth of the Christian rural system of the Early Middle Ages.
Located within the ancient Roman centuriation, whose traces can still be seen on the ground in the development of roads, the ancient pievi of Bassa Romagna have always represented a spiritual and identity reference point for the inhabitants of the area.
In Barbiano, a small hamlet of Cotignola, stands an eighteenth-century church dedicated to S. Stefano.
The church by Cosimo Morelli has a simple facade and it is flanked by a tall bell tower accurately rebuilt after the Second World War.
The neoclassical church holds a fascinating surprise for visitors. Walking along its external perimeter, getting to the apsidal area, it is possible to discern on the walls the remains of the earlier Romanesque parish church, built before 1409 in turn on the no longer visible remains of a more ancient building dating back to 900AD.
San Pietro in Sylvis in Bagnacavallo, built in the VII century probably next to an ancient Roman temple dedicated to Jupiter, is one of the best preserved Romanesque parish churches in the area of Ravenna.
It is located along the via dei Romei, the millenary road traveled by pilgrims to get to Rome, and it preserves interesting frescoes dating back to the XIV century illustrating the theory of the Apostles and Christ Pantocrator attributed to Pietro da Rimini.
The church was once completely painted and nowadays on the walls there are traces of 15th-century Ferrara school works, ancient coats of arms, an evocative ciborium and Roman handle bricks.
The picturesque crypt of the XI century made up of recycled material enriches the visit.
In the Early Middle Ages the countryside of Lugo saw the rise of one of the most ancient parish churches in the area of Ravenna: the currently called Pieve di Campanile.
The present structure of the church is single nave with a polygonal apse rebuilt at the beginning of the XVI century. The cylindrical high and majestic bell tower of the XI century invites visitors to get closer and to immerse themselves in a place of great appeal.
