Church of Santa Maria

The first documentation on the existence of the Church of Santa Maria in Campi dates back to 1270. The church had the typical Romanesque bedding with the apse to the east and the front to the west. The older part of the church was formed by the present apse up to the transept and it already contained the chapel of S. Jacopo and that of S. Antonio da Padova on the right. During the centuries the small church became larger, transversely to the course of the river, and already in '400, it was with the Latin cross form and it had the present aspect, except for the aisle on the right, that has been added later. The fifteenth century brings the plague in Campi; there were lots of victims, but there wasn't anyone among the people of S. Maria and of neighbouring countries, who had asked for the protection of S. Rocco. According to the tradition it seems that the Saint was passed through S. Maria and stopped in "Villa del Trebbio". To commemorate that stop in honour of the protector from the plague, a wooden statue, that was placed in the above-mentioned "Villa", was commissioned. Received the grace of the non - infection, the statue was carried to the church. After the Council of Trento, a new Company was founded and it was dedicated to S. Rocco. The new "societas" was initially situated in the rooms of the old sacristy, to have finally the definitive accomodation in the present aisle on the right with an oratory, a big room for the meetings and a cemetery for the burial of the brothers. When, for Statute the possessions passed to the Church of Santa Maria, don Antonio Nencioni its prior, incorporated the rooms of the ex Company in the church providing it, with the opening of special archs, of the present aisle on the right. In '700 the apse bell tower was raised, after having demolished the ancient one, that was in sail, and that was present on the front. This last one and the roof were completely remade during the second postwar period and the works finished in 1952, when the church was provided of a baptismal font. Recently, between 1991 and 1992, the outside front has been embellished with a tasteful arcade. Taken out from: Guided Tours to the Church of Santa Maria in Campi - Text of the Associazione Campi per Campi.