Chiesa di San Tommaso

Small but pretty

Small pretty church of the 1600s

Very nice church where it is possible to admire the frescoes to be restored. To visit

The church of San Tommaso is located in the historic center of Pilzone, in a small open space. It was the first parish church in the country, but over time it became the secondary one because it was smaller than the later San Pietro, still the current parish. This church is not very large, but it does not lack ancient frescoes that can still be admired today.

A magnificent 16th century church with a remarkable medieval fresco depicting the Pietà and very valuable sacred banners. A place of great spirituality and great peace.

The church of San Tommaso is located in the historic town of Pilzone, with medieval origins: although older, the first certain date is from the fifteenth century (as part of the frescoes on the walls of the nave) but its structure is the complex result of numerous adaptations stylistic from the seventeenth century onwards (just look at the facade, the baroque altar frame, the frescoes from the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries of the walls to the twentieth century of the vault and in general of the decorations that covered the wall frescoes before the restoration). The left wall (with respect to the altar) represents, in order (from the altar to the entrance), San Fermo from the 17th century, the Madonna del latte and a saint from the 14th-15th century. On the opposite wall, from the altar to the entrance, a fragmentary scene of martyrdom, St. James and the Madonna and child from the 16th century. The fresco in the center of the altarpiece represents the Pietà, from the 16th century, a symbol for the Pilzone community: by visiting the town cemetery one can understand how much the Madonna di San Tommaso represents a value, a reference for the inhabitants of the country that represent it, in pictorial, photographic and sculptural version, on the tombstones of loved ones. An intimate and isolated place, in use for a few celebrations during the liturgical year, in particular for Palm Sunday (which includes the blessing of the olive trees in the churchyard and the procession to the church of San Pietro) or the rosary during the month of May. Finally my personal thought: focusing our attention on the image of San Fermo we notice that the saint holds a banner depicting a bovine (protector of livestock) and the inscription "S. Firmu (s)" or the Latin name of the saint where, in a pleasant perspective game of the banner folded back on itself, the final "s" is absent. I like to think that the use of us villagers, handed down from generation to generation, of turning to the mountain overlooking the town (where you can find the church of the saint and the popular giant bench n ° 73) with the name San Firmo, at place of San Fermo, may somehow have been influenced over the centuries by this fresco, lost and found only recently, in a ritual and affective tradition.