Santa Maria Annunciata, Bienno

Beautiful place to visit. Even if the roads are very narrow it is worth visiting. There is a refreshment, toilet, panorama, the DOGS ARE ALLOWED.

In the ancient village of Bienno, the church stands out among the houses. The building dates back to the second half of the 1400s and the interior is a treasure trove of beautiful frescoes. In the presbytery the frescoes painted by Romanino, the paintings of the nave by Giovanni Pietro da Cemmo and the altarpiece by Fiammenghino. Worth the visit to admire and enjoy the view of the frescoes.

Very interesting and rich, not very usable and understandable The façade of this church is original, erected - in the center of the town - in the last decades of the fifteenth century: a little rustic even if softened by a beautiful portal (very simple) in simona stone and white marble with a lunette (with an inscription dedicated to the Madonna), surmounted by a beautiful decorated stone rose window. The interior frescoed at different times - between the end of the fifteenth and the middle of the sixteenth century - by different artists with different subjects is very particular and inhomogeneous: Giovan Pietro da Cemmo (fifteenth century) painted the figures of the four evangelists on the vault of the presbytery ; Francesco Prata da Caravaggio painted the Annunciation in the holy arch and the angels with the Instruments of the Passion of Christ on the vault adjacent to the presbytery; Gerolamo Romano, known as Romanino (together with his aide Daniele Mori), painted Stories of the Virgin from the apocryphal Gospels in the presbytery around 1540 (a pity they were barely visible due to the failure of the lighting system!); Giovan Pietro da Cemmo and his workshop painted, between 1490 and 1494, along the walls many panels presumably commissioned as ex voto with different subjects (Crucifixions, Madonnas, saints, ..., the Triumph of death) sometimes not very recognizable because they are not there are indications of any kind in the church. In addition to the frescoes, the altarpiece of the Annunciation, a beautiful work by Giovan Mauro della Rovere known as il Fiamminghino (from 1632), is added on the altar, inside a carved and gilded wooden ancona. Interesting, on the outside, on the south-east side, is the elegant door with a lunette that has been closed (next to the new portal, dominated by a large window) and the frescoes of San Cristoforo and Sant'Antonio Abate.

Visited December 30, 2019 Beautiful fifteenth-century church and beautifully frescoed. A nice surprise like the whole village worth visiting. I'll be back!

Probably the most beautiful church in Valcamonica. Beautiful frescoes, also well kept

If you are in Bienno you cannot miss the church of Santa Maria, announced. From the 15th century It preserves frescoes by Romanino and Giovanni Pietro da Cemmo.

Beautiful church with a beautiful quantity of frescoes inside, large doors very well preserved. Also not to be missed are the frescoes by Girolamo Romanino. Absolutely not to be missed.