La Pieve di Sant’Abbondio alla Motta

The small church of Sant’Abbondio is the mother church of the parish of San Bonifacio. It stands on the slopes of a modest height called “Motta,” not far from the current center of San Bonifacio but separated from it by the Alpone River. On the Motta stood the castle, of which we have the first mention in the will of Count Milone in 955 AD.

We also have a record of the city walls that protected the fortification and the village, from a document of 1208, from which it is evident that the village was established as a free commune where the “vicinia,” or assembly of the inhabitants, gathered in the square in front of Sant’Abbondio, which was still the only parish church. The community of San Bonifacio had finally managed to have its own church and a certain autonomy from the wishes of the Counts, although the dedication to the Lombard saint (Sant’Abbondio, bishop and patron of Como), little known in the Verona area, can only be explained as further interference from the Counts of San Bonifacio, given their ties to Lombardy.

The church was therefore built in the second half of the 12th century as a parish church for the community living in the village adjacent to the castle of the counts of San Bonifacio. It has a single nave with external dimensions of 16.4 meters in length and 8.9 in width. On the east wall is a large apse with a diameter of 6.3 meters. The truss roof was rebuilt in 1900. Some elements of the present-day church remain from the construction of the 12th century. Some features of the masonry structure of Sant’Abbondio that have been preserved are typical of the 12th century, and there are also other indications that suggest that the current church is largely the same building constructed then.

The preserved masonry on the north and west facades is composed of horizontally laid courses of irregularly sized bricks, interspersed with rows of squared blocks of limestone, with the typical workmanship of the 12th century. This polychrome masonry characterizes the most significant churches in Verona, built during a period from 1120 to 1200, such as the Cathedral, San Zeno, SS. Trinità, and S. Stefano. The south side of the church, hardly visible as it faces the adjacent courtyard of Palazzo Scudellari, is perhaps the most interesting because it has been preserved as it was. The facade originally had to repeat well-tested patterns of a “gable” façade, as seen in S. Stefano and SS. Trinità in Verona, with a hanging porch, a bifora instead of a rose window, and trailing arches.  

Inside there are numerous paintings: at the end of the 14th century and the beginning of the 15th century, there are frescoes in the apse area, particularly the Annunciation above the triumphal arch. From the 1400s is an image of Saint Agatha on the right side of the triumphal arch. Subsequently, perhaps during another restoration of the church in 1491, a series of wall paintings were executed, inside framed panels, mostly “ex voto” depicting Madonnas and Saints. Suspended on the facade wall are two polychrome wooden statues from the 18th century, representing St. Boniface and St. Thomas Aquinas. Another wooden statue located in a niche on the south side represents St. Abbondio.