The ancient Toano, proud of its roots that are lost in the mists of time but whose existence is already certified in the privilege of King Berengar I to the church of Reggio Emilia in the tenth century, stands in a splendid and sunny position on the top of the mountain that culminates with the famous plebeian church of S. Maria di Castello.
The capital, however, offers its visitors not only beautiful buildings and medieval sculptures, but also everything that can contribute to making a pleasant holiday: swimming pool, tennis courts, tumble court, mountain-bike track, paths that are lost in rich woods. The accommodation offer is vast and well articulated: hotels, bars, restaurants and ice cream parlors.
In the capital you can take walks inside the park of the castle, in the center of which is the Matildic church of St. Mary. The parish church occupies the acropolis of Toano, a panoramic summit at almost a thousand meters above sea level that separates the valleys of Dolo and Secchia. Mentioned in all the oldest documentary sources, it was included within the circle of walls erected at the time of the Marquis Boniface of Canossa.
Let’s take a closer look at the beautiful Pieve di Santa Maria Assunta:
According to the scholar Alcide Spaggiari, the Pieve di Toano is “the perfect, complete and intact monument of Canusina art on the Apennines”.
The first official act documenting the existence of the Pieve is a diploma of Emperor Otto II, dated October 14, 980. It is not possible to establish exactly how long it has existed because no previous documents have been found mentioning it.
The simplicity of the architectural lines is striking, which give the monument particular solemnity, of a typically Romanesque-Lombard beauty. It has a gabled front and a roof in local sandstone slabs (piagne).
The interior is characterized by a bare spatiality that takes us into an atmosphere of distant times. The space is divided into three naves, distinguished by two orders of massive columns with wide round arches. The columns are surmounted by capitals of considerable historical and artistic value, decorated with typical weaves of the ars canusina. These decorations recall Byzantine-Ravenna motifs, Canusini interweaving, primitive figures in full relief and motifs with stylized acanthus leaves and grape shoots. Typical depictions of the churches built when Matilde di Canossa was still alive, between the end of the eleventh and the beginning of the twelfth century, such as those of Marola, Paullo, San Vitale and Sant’Andrea di Carpineti, Rubbiano.
