HISTORY
The Pieve di San Michele Arcangelo in Acerbolis takes its name from its location in the town of Sant’Arcangelo di Romagna, a few kilometers from Rimini. The church is clearly the oldest monument of the city, and recent studies indicate that it was built atop an early Roman settlement Pagus Acerbolanus, probably the property of the Galeria family. Tradition holds that the complex was consecrated in 395 by Giovanni, Bishop of Rimini, though the first document that ascertains its existence is not until 889. The early structure is from the Byzantine period (6-7th century), while the crypt and the campanile seem to belong to a later campaign, probably during the Lombard period (8th century). The church remained in function until the Collegiate church was built, closer to the town of Sant’Arcangelo. The decadence of the structure made the restorations more difficult, and not attempted until 1912. The building is now the result of later 20th-century interventions of 1922, 1950 and 1970.

ART-HISTORICAL NOTES
After the last restorations, the church has a single nave with a polygonal apse. There are seven walled-up doors along the building, of various shapes and sizes, and only the entrance portal remaining open. The portal is itself probably the result of an 11th-century addition, probably completed along with the bell tower. The wall surfaces are characteristic of the Romanesque art of Ravenna, thin brick construction with frequent insertions of stone. The interior shines with perfectly equilibrated proportions, and contains several important fragments, such as a mosaic pavement datable to the first foundation of the Galeria family and sculptural works datable to the High Middle Ages.