Church of Santa Maria Assunta in Montebuono

In the heart of Sabina, the Church of Santa Maria Assunta in Montebuono represents a valuable example of sacred architecture, with a history dating back to the early 15th century. The building is distinguished by its distinctive facade characterized by an emerging arch in the center, a square belfry on the left, and a flat profile on the right. The wooden front door is framed in smooth marble, surmounted by a projecting cornice and a large blind stucco lunette. The entire facade, plastered and painted yellow, is punctuated by pilasters and angles in exposed stone, giving it a harmonious and imposing appearance.

The interior of the church has a single nave, about 25 meters long and 9 meters wide, with a raised chancel and a chancel in the counterfacade. Along the walls are two pairs of shallow niches, each with a linear-ended altar. The flooring is black-white grit, with a central travertine rail. The roof of the hall is barrel-vaulted, while the chancel is covered by a ribbed vault. The outer roof is pitched, covered with brick tiles.

The church is built of load-bearing masonry with limestone, and the interior surfaces are embellished with decorative elements of polychrome faux marble. The presbytery is embellished with circular red marble columns with Ionic capitals, and in the center of the presbytery wall is an altar with columns and tympanum, containing a pictorial depiction ofMary’s Assumption to Heaven. The vault of the liturgical hall is also decorated, with a large central painting dedicated to the Assumption.

Over the years, the church has undergone several liturgical adjustments. Between 1970 and 1980, a stone mensa supported by a Corinthian capital was installed, positioned according to post-conciliar liturgical directions. The ambo, located to the right of the mensa, is made of a fluted stone column shaft, about one meter high.

To visit Montebuono and its church is to immerse oneself in a unique landscape setting, among green hills and striking views, discovering the historical roots of Sabina.