Historic Churches of Basso Sarca: New Volume by Il Sommolago Association

The final editorial work of the Il Sommolago association, which has been publishing its quarterly journal of art, history, and culture since 1992, is about to be sent to the printing house. It is the volume “Ecclesiae – le chiese del Sommolago,” in which five researchers from Alta Gardesana offer the most comprehensive description of the places of worship within the borders of the six municipalities of Basso Sarca.

The presentation will take place on Tuesday, July 25th at 8:30 p.m. in the Festival Hall of the Municipal Casino. Present at the event, along with the researchers Maria Luisa Crosina, Mauro Grazioli, Francesca Odorizzi, Ferdinando Martinelli, and Romano Turrini, who prepared the historical and artistic documentation of the seventy churches identified, will also be Marina Poian and Roberto Codroico, authors of two essays, one on religiosity and the other on religious art, placed at the beginning of the volume, as well as photographers Paolo Calzà and Fabio Emanuelli, who created the rich iconographic section.

Origin and evolution of the publishing project

The work, initially conceived with much smaller scope and objectives, was born from “the desire to characterize, with a significant publishing initiative, the celebration of the Year 2000 Jubilee,” as the five authors specify in the preface. It expanded until reaching the dimensions of a true study thanks to the two rural cooperative banks of Arco – Alto Garda credit cooperative of Bolognano and the Arco Garda Trentino rural bank – which generously undertook the purchase of a substantial number of copies to distribute as free gifts to all their members and key clients.

The result is, as anyone attending the presentation next Tuesday will verify, a volume of substantial size, rich in information about the origins and architectural evolution over the centuries not only of all the churches still in use but also of places of worship of which only a few wall traces remain, often solely preserved in historical memory.

Contents and illustrations

The cover features a reproduction of the splendid, yet little-known frescoes adorning the small church of S. Apollinare in Prabi.