Almenno San Salvatore, Madonna del Castello

The Madonna of the Castle Sanctuary (so-called because it was adjacent to an old castle which is no longer there) is composed of two main buildings. These are a primitive ancient plebeian church (from "plebsplebis" = countryside) from the ninth to tenth century, and a Renaissance church from the fifteenth century placed in front of it, with the aim of protecting the miraculous image of the Madonna, which is frescoed onto the front of the oldest church.
The plebeian church is one of the most well-conserved pre-Romanesque testimonies in the whole province. It is probably the only survivor of the eleven pre-Romanesque churches that are known about. Inside, one feature of particular interest is the ambo (a predecessor of the pulpit, used for the reading of the scriptures; in the early Christian and Romanesque eras one ambo was located to the right of the altar for the reading of the Epistle and one to the left for the reading of the Gospel) which is Romanesque, made of sandstone, and dates back to the twelfth century, with bas-reliefs depicting the symbols of the evangelists. Two sets of steps halfway along the side aisles lead down to the crypt, the whole of which has preserved its pre-Romanesque form; a rectangular floor plan, with a cross vault. Three of the four column capitals can be attributed to the late Roman era (probably retrieved from earlier buildings). The Sanctuary itself, built at the beginning of the sixteenth century, is fascinating, particularly because of its original Renaissance shrine in marble and stucco, which is set above the altar and protects the image of the Madonna.