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S. Michele di Cortigno

A Medley of Umbrian Art

[MissingALT. It is zzz of the church of S. Michele Arcangelo in Cortigno, Umbria (central Italy).]

The curious porticoed front of S. Michele conceals more than it reveals.

Now Cortigno is a very small place, with surely no more than a hundred inhabitants; all the more wonderful that her principal church should have accumulated interesting and attractive bits and pieces from 2000 years of history. Browsing these pages, you'll find Roman stone, carvings from the early Middle Ages, the fabric of the church thoroughly reworked in the early classical period, 18c inscriptions — and that ghastly 20c clock.

	The belfry, though attractive enough, would probably not get its own page were it not for a couple of photographs of the 18c bell: I rarely succeed in getting any of my own photos of these old bells, but got some help from a man who knows the area very well. [ 8/5/05: 1 page, 5 photos ]
	The interior of the church seems to have been completely redone in the late 16c, and includes some good woodwork and several paintings of the period. [ 8/5/05: 1 page, 4 photos ]
	The exterior is a sort of scrapbook of old stone, and I bet I missed some. [ 8/5/05: 1 page, 4 photos ]
	Unexpectedly, though, it's the porch you saw above, at first unprepossessing, that gives us the best art of the church: not quite inside (the visitor's good fortune, since no key is needed), not quite outside, since the medieval frescoes are protected from the elements (more good fortune). [ 8/5/05: 1 page, 9 photos ]

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