The Tempietto del Clitunno

The Lombard temple

On the slope above the Via Flaminia, a short distance from the Springs of Clitunno, a small white building looks at first sight like a miniature Roman temple, with a pediment, four columns and a small entrance portico, overlooking the river. In reality, the Tempietto del Clitunno is an early Christian church, built probably between the seventh and eighth centuries by the Lombards, the Germanic people who ruled much of Italy in the early Middle Ages and whose Duchy of Spoleto was one of the most powerful in the peninsula. To build it, the builders reused materials taken from the Roman buildings that once stood near the sacred springs, such as columns, capitals and marble blocks, imitating the forms of a classical temple, but with clear Christian symbols, such as the crosses and the inscriptions dedicated to the "God of the angels".

Since 2011 the Tempietto has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Longobards in Italy. Places of Power (568-774 AD)", which brings together seven sites in Italy that testify to the art and culture of the Lombards, including Cividale del Friuli, Brescia and Spoleto. Inside, the small single room preserves some of the oldest frescoes of early medieval painting in Italy, of the eighth century, with Christ blessing between two angels in the apse, and Saint Peter and Saint Paul, painted in a style that still recalls Byzantine art. For centuries, scholars debated whether the building was a Roman temple transformed into a church or a medieval construction imitating the ancient; today, the second hypothesis is the most accepted.

Tip: opening hours are limited, check before you go; combine it with the Springs of Clitunno and the Basilica of San Salvatore in Spoleto, also Lombard.

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