Description
The church of San Bartolomeo is one of the oldest Romanesque buildings in Campobasso, built of large stone blocks in the mid-13th century, high up on the Monforte hill, next to the stairway that climbs to the castle and the remains of the medieval walls.
On the facade stands out the Apulian-style prothyrum, pressed so flat against the wall that it looks almost like a high relief: two blind arches divided by columns. Inside, the lunette shows Christ blessing in the Greek manner.
Around Christ runs a band divided into eight panels: in the middle, the symbols of the four evangelists and, at the sides, the doctors of the Eastern and Western Church, facing each other in pairs. Above their heads appears a hand, the symbol of God.
Next to the portal opens a small Gothic window with intertwined branches and flowers, and nearby a small, finely carved ox.
The interior has three aisles, divided by baseless columns with geometric capitals and round arches. Among the Romanesque forms you can spot two walled-up Gothic portals and pieces from different periods, signs of restorations over the centuries.
Two works make the visit worthwhile: the Crucifixion on canvas by Paolo De Matteis, one of the great painters of the Neapolitan Baroque, and the stone processional cross from the 14th-15th century, which once stood in the churchyard.
Next to the church rises Torre Terzano, a round 13th-century tower of rough stone that was part of the walls, restored by the Monforte family in the 15th century.
A 16th-century legend ties it to a Romeo and Juliet story. Delicata Civerra and Fonzo Mastrangelo loved each other, but they belonged to two enemy families, one of the Trinitarians and the other of the Crusaders.
To stop her fiancé from carrying her off, Delicata was locked in the tower, and Fonzo had to leave as a soldier. She died of grief; when he came back and heard the news, he became a monk.
On the facade stands out the Apulian-style prothyrum, pressed so flat against the wall that it looks almost like a high relief: two blind arches divided by columns. Inside, the lunette shows Christ blessing in the Greek manner.
Around Christ runs a band divided into eight panels: in the middle, the symbols of the four evangelists and, at the sides, the doctors of the Eastern and Western Church, facing each other in pairs. Above their heads appears a hand, the symbol of God.
Next to the portal opens a small Gothic window with intertwined branches and flowers, and nearby a small, finely carved ox.
The interior has three aisles, divided by baseless columns with geometric capitals and round arches. Among the Romanesque forms you can spot two walled-up Gothic portals and pieces from different periods, signs of restorations over the centuries.
Two works make the visit worthwhile: the Crucifixion on canvas by Paolo De Matteis, one of the great painters of the Neapolitan Baroque, and the stone processional cross from the 14th-15th century, which once stood in the churchyard.
Next to the church rises Torre Terzano, a round 13th-century tower of rough stone that was part of the walls, restored by the Monforte family in the 15th century.
A 16th-century legend ties it to a Romeo and Juliet story. Delicata Civerra and Fonzo Mastrangelo loved each other, but they belonged to two enemy families, one of the Trinitarians and the other of the Crusaders.
To stop her fiancé from carrying her off, Delicata was locked in the tower, and Fonzo had to leave as a soldier. She died of grief; when he came back and heard the news, he became a monk.