Church of Santa Maria Assunta

The most significant monument that characterizes the urban space of Tarano is certainly the church of S. Maria Assunta, whose structures have undergone significant and profound changes that have altered their original layout and shapes. The church was born at the beginning of the XII century; an epigraph walled up on the bell tower bears the date of 8 September 1114 on it. It is not clear what this chronological notation refers to. It probably recalls the year of construction of the nolare tower

The facade of the church, today strongly asymmetrical, shows the traces of numerous interventions, the most important of which must have taken place in the thirteenth century, when the church, originally with a single nave, was enlarged, to meet the increased needs of the strongly grown population, with two side aisles. This intervention involved the incorporation of the nolare tower, originally detached from the façade, of which a single lancet window had to be closed, now clearly visible on the head of the ship. At the same time, to support the right aisle it was necessary to create a substructure, which was used to create a series of sloping shops to support the steep slope.

The interior of the church clearly and clearly shows the succession of multiple interventions that have affected the sacred building on several occasions, alternating and transforming it. It has three naves with strongly lowered sixth arches on columns and sculpted capitals, has Romanesque and Gothic characters, and retains traces of the decoration of votive frescoes (St. Paul, from the 12th-13th century.

The right aisle, immediately after the first part occupied by the bell tower and a Baroque chapel, is divided by two lowered arches, supported by a bare column, in turn surmounted by a capital with lanceolate leaves. A marble frame adorns one of the pillars supporting the last pointed arch. The predominant decoration is inspired by phytomorphic motifs in the part that faces the central nave. On the opposite side to the phytomorphic motifs, zoomorphic figures also alternate, rendered in a rather rough way. An eagle and a lily decorate the side facing the bell tower. Even the pictorial decoration shows the overlapping, often disordered, of successive interventions over time.

Of considerable importance is a saint, perhaps St. Bartholomew, according to the interpretation advanced by Pessa, a fragment of a fresco from the second half of the thirteenth century. The teacher who depicted the crucifixion around the middle of the fourteenth century, a painting of Christ on the cross between the Virgin and St. John, is attributed to the Assisi school. The church also has a valuable fifteenth-century Pietà in polychrome terracotta of German art. The protector is San Giorgio and the civil and religious celebrations take place on 23 April.