NOT TO BE MISSED:

- Visit to the village of San Giorgio Ingannapolton 

- Longobard ciborium and external cloister

- Parish church built with local limestone

The picturesque medieval village of San Giorgio Ingannapolton is located on a hill overlooking the valleys below, with a panorama that ranges from the city of Verona, to Valpolicella and its inhabited centers to offer a wonderful view of the brilliant blue surface of Lake Garda.

Once you reach the central square of the town, you will see the white bell tower above you, the same tower that can be glimpsed and that always seems a bit close from every corner of Valpolicella.

The complex of the Pieve di San Giorgio dates back to the 8th century (712 AD) and was built on the ruins of a pre-existing pagan temple erected by the Arusnati, ancient inhabitants of the Verona area.

With the spread of Christianity also in Valpolicella, in fact, the pagan places of worship were incorporated into or replaced by the latter.
This is testified by the base of one of the columns of the left nave, made up of the altar of the ancient Temple of the Sun.

The Pieve di San Giorgio still maintains the austere and archaic aspect typical of Romanesque art: unlike the city churches which were then embellished over the centuries, this church was built with limestone blocks of the place, what it was easier to find a humble peasant region in Valpolicella at that time.

The interior, divided into three naves by pillars and columns, has decorations in the form of cycles of frescoes on the rectangular-shaped pillars of the right nave, dating back to the fourteenth century.

There are also original frescoes dating back to the 11th century, unfortunately however deteriorated by the passage of time.

Lastly, the Lombard ciborium, a finely chiseled stone canopy with Celtic knots and figures of animals and plants (including vine shoots), is not to be missed.

Everything is completed by the cloister, on the eastern side of the church and formed by three of the four original colonnades with a well in the center, and by the bell tower, according to scholars dating back to the same period of the Pieve.