Lombard Temple and Monastero

The Lombard ‘Temple’ is one of the most complex and original buildings of the late Lombard period. Its exceptional decoration makes it one of the most splendid and ambitious constructions of the 8th century.
The ‘Temple‘, together with the palatine church of San Giovanni, is located near the Early Christian nucleus of Santa Maria, which became the episcopal church in Late Lombard times.

The ‘Tempietto’ constitutes one of the most important surviving examples of Lombard art and architecture in Italy. Externally, the building has a sober appearance with simple blind arches decorating the walls, in contrast to the still abundantly decorated interior. The church faces east and is made up of two rooms: a presbytery covered by three vaults and an almost square chamber with a cross vault. In plan the ratio between the two room is 3:5; the building is strikingly tall.

The magnificent arches, originally polychrome and perhaps embellished by areas covered with gold leaf,  contained lunettes with frescoes: the Madonna and Child between two archangels can still be seen on the south wall, and in the western wall Christ between the archangels Michael and Gabriel. Proceeding from this band onto the east wall is the dedicatory inscription, that emphasizes the high status of the royal figure who commissioned the building.

In the upper order, there are five windows bordered at the sides by small columns and an openwork arch: one in the centre of the west wall and two in both lateral walls.
On the western wall at the sides of the window there is high-relief stucco decoration that reproduces six female figures: others, now lost, would have been be symmetrically placed in groups of three between the windows in the side walls.
The figures, slightly taller than life, all have aureoles. Two at the sides of the window, seen three-quarters-on in an act of devotion, are dressed in a tunic with a raised ball covering the head; the other four, shown frontally, richly dressed and ornamented with a jewelled collar and diadem, hold a martyr’s crown and a cross in their hands.