Montasola medieval village, Sabina, monuments

The Sabina region preserve some ancient treasures that make the visitors and the tourists appreciate it more and more over the years. To the harsh and fascinating landscape, to the hilly climate and to the extraordinary cordiality of the local residents, combine artistic works of great interest. Among these, an old fountain, placed in the territory of Montasola close to the street that, through an amazing valley, starts at Forcella and conducts to Madonna di Cottanello.
The manufacture, called Fonte Vecchia, dates back to the earliest times and it has recently been restored. This fountain has a very particular architectural style, considering that the small fountains are placed on two different levels of the ground: the superior part is a dome; the lower part has two basins used as drinking trough and these are connected to the upper fountain by a third, intermediate, basin.
It is a very rare piece of work that deserves to be seen because of its constructive originality.
The Sabina area is enriched by many of these works, handed down to us through time, and they constitute its popular heritage, unique and unrepeatable. In this moment of re-launching and growth of the interest in our roots, Montasola deserves particular attention.

Church of the Oratory

The church of the Oratory

The church of the Oratory is part of the property of the Cimini Charitable Institution, bequeathed by benefactor Francesco Cimini at his death in 1712.
A hospital, adjacent to the Oratory, is part of the legacy, too, as well as the tiny del Monte Church and various other properties in the Sabina area and in Rome.
Oral tradition tells us about this citizen of Montasola who, in the 17th Century, became very rich discovering some golden rods hidden inside the Roman workshop where he worked as a joiner.
In 1681, as it is reported in the Atti del Buon Governo (Deed of the Good Government), Francesco Cimini gave a legacy of 500 scudi to the community of Montasola. However, being the Town Council unable to balance the local economy, Francesco Cimini required, ten years later, that Montasola agreed to perpetually support a schoolteacher for meritorious students and annual dowries to honest old maids. Francesco Cimini died in Rome on the 29th of November 1712 leaving a Will in which he specifically said how he wanted his inheritance to be handled. Montasola was the main beneficiary.
The church of the Oratory is the real treasure of Montasola: unique of its kind in the entire district, the chapel is rich of extraordinary marble groups and wonderful paintings. Among these, placed on a marvelous baroque Altar, stands out the painting of St. Conception, attributed, if not directly to Antonio Gherardi, to one of the Master’s students. The peculiarity of this beautiful painting is that it can be interchanged with a wooden crucifix by means of a still-working winch. This makes, still today, this Altar incomparable. This holy crucifix was the symbol of the Oratory of the Charitable Institution, as it can be drawn from all the papers that refer to its activity and in which this effigy is mentioned. Two wonderful marble putti that, according to the popular tradition, can be attributed to Bernini’s school, adorn the Altar. The Oratory follows perfectly the principles of the baroque style, as specifically requested by Francesco Cimini, who clearly was inspired by the Roman churches that he, at that time, frequently visited when working at the carpentry workshop in via dell’Arco della Ciambella.
In its delicacy, amid marbles and paintings, here, too, we find a balustrade carved in precious pink Cottanello marble. This balustrade was originally installed inside the church of St. Maria Morella. Later on, it was cut into three parts and each part placed inside St. Pietro and St. Tommaso’s Parish Church, the Oratory and St. Maria Morella.
The Oratory shares, together with the adjacent church of St. Michele Arcangelo, the Bell Tower and two of the four bells.

Church of St. Michele Arcangelo

The Church of St. Michele Arcangelo

St. Michele Arcangelo is one of Montasola’s three churches. It is not exactly known when and by whom this church was built, yet it is probably the oldest church of the medieval village, dating back to its foundation. It was a parish church and a curiosity is that there were two parish churches in Montasola till 1950: the present one, namely the Church of St. Pietro e Tommaso, and St. Michele Arcangelo’s Church.
Internally the structure is Romanesque in style, single-aisled, and it retains the original floor. The church has three altars: the main altar, where a painting of the Madonna is placed now, was originally dedicated to St. Michele Arcangelo; and two side altars, one facing the other, which are built-in the walls. The one on the right hand side is dedicated to St. Lucia with a beautiful painting, not yet restored, and the one on the left to St. Maria Maddalena the Penitent.
The tiny church was almost abandoned for many years: the roof crashed in, and maybe it was during this period that the paintings of the two altars disappeared. Only recently, an important part of the necessary restoration has been carried out, thanks, above all, to the inestimable generosity of a community of Montasola, who emigrated to Annecy in France during the first years of the last century, revealing the strong bond that tie them to their roots and the affection to the dear old places, to the culture and to the memory.
In the floor of the church you can see two grave-covers and, inside the little Sacristy, an ossuary stone. Most noteworthy was the ancient Holy Water stoup in marble, which is not in possession of the church anymore: crocodiles and fish were carved on the inner side; externally, there were the Papal Armorial with the Keys and the Tiara and, on the underside of it, a shield. A second Holy Water stoup seems to date back to the early Christian period. An ancient marble ciborium is situated in the Sacristy and it has a small iron hinge that once supported a wooden door: now it is built-in the wall horizontally, and used for the ablution of the sacred things. There is still a passageway inside the church, originally private, that led to the adjacent aristocratic houses, allowing the noble families to take part in the religious events without crossing the public streets.
The Church is close to the Cimini Oratory and the two buildings share the Bell Tower: of the four bells, two belong to the church of St. Michele, the other two to the Oratory.

Church of St. Pietro and Tommaso

The Church of St. Pietro and Tommaso

The Parish Church of St. Pietro and Tommaso is situated on one of the highest points of Montasola. Above the main entrance door of the church, there is an inscription that gives us the year of foundation of the town, namely 1191, through Pope Celestine III, remembering, at the same time, the construction of the church dedicated to the apostles Pietro and Tommaso, and that it came under the Abbey of Farfa. The date MDCCXXI, carved on the architrave made of pink Cottanello marble, is probably the date of one of the restorations of the church.
Initially there were five altars besides the high altar (one of the altars has probably been dismantled entirely, as it is missing): the high altar is dedicated to the Holy Sacrament and to the Madonna Assunta. The central niche of the apse contains a wooden statue of the Assunta; to its right there is a statue representing St. Antonio and to the left there is another image of the Madonna, worshipped in the cult of the Sabine populations. The pink marble balustrade, which originally came from the church of St. Maria Morella, was installed in 1923. This balustrade was cut into three parts and two of the parts were placed inside the Parish Church and the Oratory.
Starting from the right hand side, entering, you immediately see a marvelous sixteenth-century altar dedicated to the Madonna del Rosario, or also said della Via Crucis (Stations of the Cross). The painting, portraying the Madonna between the founder of the Dominican order St. Domenico and a nun of the same religious order, is placed in a precious carved wood frame of the 16th century that represents the 15 Mysteries of the Rosary.
A little further on, at the side of the high altar, we can see the semi-circle of an old apse, with a fresco attributed to Domenico Rainaldi, which can be dated back to the 1300. The frescoes representing the Madonna with the Child, St. Pietro and St. Francesco were probably placed in the apse of the original old church upon which the Parish Church was built, perpendicularly to the old church.
Entering, on the left hand side instead, is the altar dedicated to St. Maria in Cecalupi, also said St. Maria della Neve (St. Mary of the Snow). The fresco represents the Madonna together with St. Eusebio and St. Giovanni, who also can be seen in the paintings placed in the choir, besides St. Pietro and St. Tommaso.
The last altar is dedicated to St. Prospero. This altar was originally not part of the Parish Church, but placed inside the old St. Antonino’s church (at the time in ruins) and moved to its present position during one of the restorations carried out over the centuries. In this case, too, the altar painting dates back to ‘500. The Holy Water stoup of the 14th century is of particular worth, as well as the lacunar ceiling that dates from the 16th century and a painting, which comes from St. Maria Morella, too, representing the Madonna with the Child, St. Pietro near St. Carlo Borromeo and a kneeling man, on the right, who most probably is Angelo Bonelli, the purchaser of the painting and patron of St. Maria Morella’s church in 1600.
Externally, the façade is not of high artistic value and, apart from the inscriptions, the rough plastered walls are completely bare. One of the reasons could be the great number of restorations and remodellings that the church has undergone over the years; in fact, the current plan of the building does probably not coincide with the original plan and the facade is not facing a square or a road with excellent visibility as a place of religious worship normally does, but the church of St. Pietro and Tommaso is squeezed among the old buildings and the narrow streets, which characterize the structure of the medieval town center.

Church of St. Maria Murella

St. Maria Murella

St. Maria Murella is situated where the old Roman Laurum settlement in the territory of Montasola probably was located. Although we do not have any direct evidence of it, the church was most likely built in the 12th century and upon Roman foundations, from which the name Murella derives, namely “small brick walls”; remains of Roman brickwork can still be seen in the surrounding area.
The church of St. Maria Murella is a single roomed building with, on the façade, some important inscriptions, which dates back to the 14th century. On the upper part of the front wall there are, in fact, a cornice supported by modillions and some low-reliefs. These sculptural elements represent phyto-, zoo- and anthropomorphous subjects. Some of the old fragments are considered of Umbrian-Sabine origin by the historical researcher Mr. Guardabassi. The medieval church was most probably built upon an already-existing pagan temple, Sabine or Roman, and it was later “ecclesia castri ” namely Church of the Castle that dominates the area.
In the 14th century it was a Parish Church and it had several chapels. During that time the façade underwent some modifications which remained unchanged up to the last restoration, in 1693, carried out by the parish priest Angelo Bonelli, who is remembered for having brought benefits and improvements, and also for the restoration of a precious painting which currently is in the parish church of St. Pietro and Tommaso. Angelo Bonelli was buried, in 1697, under the church floor, in honor of the care and the attention shown by him towards the town.
There is a beautiful single lancet window at the center of the façade, around which three very interesting sculptures are placed: above there is a bird, maybe an eagle, and, on both sides, upon two columns with capitals, two lions.
The town cemetery is located on the north-eastern side of the church and some funeral monuments are placed against the external walls. Several remains of old brick walls have been used both in the construction of the front wall of the building and in the side walls. Walking along the main path in front of the church we can still see the hermit’s dwelling, which was mentioned in the Visita Pastorale Odescalchi written in April 1836, and also some rose Cottanello marble columns (the same used for Bernini’s colonnade in front of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome).
St. Maria Murella is not a parish church anymore and currently it is only used for burial services. Nevertheless, St. Maria Murella, as well as the whole Sabina area, with all its archaeological finds, teems with evidence of its Roman past.