HISTORY
The rural church of Sant Pietro is already notable for its isolated position atop a hill in the important Apennine area of Tizzano Val Parma, where it dominates the vast surrounding area. This Romanesque church, cited for the first time in a document of 1004, was built in stone in the 11th century. It is a three-aisled basilica, with a tower located in the center of the façade, that has the function of both campanile and entrance. The presence of this massive tower makes the parish church of Tizzano a rare example within the Romanesque of the Po Valley of a clocher-porche, a church type primarily diffused in France.
ART-HISTORICAL NOTES
The church underwent radical modifications and numerous renovations between the 11th and 12th centuries, specifically in the replacement of the original three apses with a flat-terminating choir. The portal at the base of the campanile is the result of a 17th-century intervention, and the three lateral chapels were inserted later. All of these additions were completed in the same rustic Apennine stonework as the Romanesque church, giving the whole complex a uniform appearance. On the south side, there are some remains of the corbel tables that decorate the eaves. In the center of the south wall, a portal used to function as the principal entrance. Inside, restorations have revealed the trussed roof and the same bare stonework that gives the outside its rustic appearance. The nave is divided by five arcades resting on massive cylindrical piers, with chamfered-cube capitals.
