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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Blue439" data-source="post: 830108" data-attributes="member: 53455">A Trip in Italy (2021)In September and October 2021, we spent three weeks touring the Italian regions of Abruzzo, Umbria, Marches and Emilia-Romagna, which we hadn’t visited yet. Personally, I had my sights firmly set on a series of early Romanesque churches of high architectural and artistic interest —which did not however include the amazing discovery I made by sheer chance of the wonderful round church of San Giusto in the small village of San Maroto, built on a rocky hilltop overlooking the valley of River Chienti in the province of Marches (middle of nowhere in central Italy).There are very few round churches in the world, compared to rectangular ones. That’s because rectangular churches were based on the Roman, so-called “basilica” floor plan, which was widely available as a model (even in ruins) throughout the former Roman Empire (think Pagan temples), while the round model was only available in one copy: the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, which architects and builders had to have seen (or at least heard about), and not many of them had.There is precious little information about the erection of San Giusto. Most historians will not commit beyond “between the 11th and 13th century” (you don’t say!), with only one venturing “first half of the 12th century”. Personally, based on the way local stones have been hewn and appareled, and on the outside decoration (the inside is gorgeous but bare), I would rather say most definitely 11th century, if not older. This is a truly astounding church, which I strongly encourage amateurs to visit.The almost abstract shot below details the way the stones are appareled and the volumes are connected. A true masterpiece, demonstrating knowledge and expertise way beyond anything normally called upon for a small village church... about which there is a lot more to be learned! The influences from the Middle East and Byzantium may point towards builders having come from as far as Syria, which was not unknown in those days... but not for a simple village church! So, what’s behind this mystery? Will we ever know?Nikon Z7, Nikkor 19mm, ƒ/4 PC-E tilt-shift lens, manual focus, FTZ adapter. Gitzo tripod, Benro geared head. Natural light.[ATTACH=full]416262[/ATTACH]</blockquote>

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