Tempietto sul Clitunno
Campello sul Clitunno
Il Tempietto sul Clitunno, a small temple-shaped sachet, is located in the
town of Campello sul Clitunno, in the village of Pissignano, along the
slope of the hill of S. Benedetto dominating the Spoleto's valley. Considered one of the most interesting medieval monuments of Umbria,
it is among the seven jewels of art and longobard architecture in Italy
that have recently been included in the prestigious UNESCO World
Heritage List.Among
the most appealing features of the visit is the charming location,
already described by Plinio the Younger as a place covered by "ancient
and shady cypresses at the feet of a source that forms a pond." The
building, which reuses Roman architectural elements pertinent to the
structures of a former sanctuary named after god Clitumnus (divinity
identified with Jupiter), is shaped like a classic temple: it rests on a
high podium with a front made up of four corinthian columns Pronao tetrastilo) that supports the trabeation on which the inscription the church dedicates to the "God of the Angels".The
interior, which is accessed through two side stairs, has the apse with a
complex decoration where a relief sculpture (originally polychrome) and
frescoes of Christian theme (Christ blessing St. Peter, Saint Paul,
Angels with Gemata Cross), dating back to the 8th century AD.The small newsstand-tabernacle in the middle of the apse re-sculpts sculptural elements from the first century AD. Lived for a long time in a Roman sack, the building has been subject to numerous interpretations of its constructive phases. A first proposal of dating has seen him elevated in the 4th-5th century AD, as a church dedicated to S. Salvatore. Recent
studies, however, have made it possible to circumscribe the history of
the building at the Longobard age, with a swing between the beginning of
the 7th and the 8th century.
Address
via del Tempio, 1
06042 Campello sul Clitunno
Timetables
Venerdì-Sabato 14.15-19.45
Information
www.musei.umbria.beniculturali.it/musei/tempietto-sul-clitunno
drm-umb.tempiettoclitunno@beniculturali.it
Ph: +39 0743 275085
Closure: dalla domenica al giovedì
Full: 3,00 €
Reduced: 2,00 €