• ST. PETER'S CHURCH

• Piazza dei Martiri 1, 40037 Sasso Marconi

• CALL

• Open every day 7am to 7pm

• One of the church's two towers serves the Church as a bell tower, while the other serves the Municipality as a clock-tower. So, like a character from Guareschi's popular “Don Camillo and Peppone” novels, which pitted a priest against a Communist mayor in comical conflict based on animosity infused with affection and respect, the Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin of Sasso stands straddling dual identities in the town’s main square (Piazza dei Martiri della Liberazione – “Martyrs of the Liberation Square”). The church was built between 1802 and 1831 to house the shrine of the Blessed Virgin, formerly kept in the a cave carved into the cliffside. In 1945, the building and the 15th century shrine it contained were both destroyed in a terrible bombing raid, which left only the two bell towers standing. The reconstruction of the current church was completed in 1951, the same year in which artist Giovanni Franchi donated an oil reproduction on wood of the ancient effigy lost to the war. Of particular interest inside the church is an 18th century canvas of “Enthroned Madonna with Children, Angels and Saints,” attributed to the French school, and a magnificent work from the school of Caracci depicting the Madonna of Carmine with Saints Peter, Paul, John the Baptist and Francis. built between 1802 and 1831 to house the shrine of the Blessed Virgin, formerly kept in the a cave carved into the cliffside. In 1945, the building and the 15th century shrine it contained were both destroyed in a terrible bombing raid, which left only the two bell towers standing.