Church of Santa Maria in Organo

The church of Santa Maria Assunta, or Santa Maria in Organo, is located in the Veronetta district on the left bank of the Adige.

Presentation and visit

The Benedictine abbey was founded in the 7th century, probably by Lupo, Duke of Friuli, and was then subject to the Patriarch of Aquileia, and not to the Bishop of Verona.
The church was rebuilt in Romanesque style after the earthquake of 1117. The oldest remains are found in the crypt of the church.
The Olivetan Benedictines arrived in 1444, and undertook numerous works and gave the monastery its still-current Renaissance appearance, and the church was rebuilt at the end of the 15th century.
At the beginning of the 16th century the small cloister and the chapter house were built, then the bell tower designed by friar Giovanni da Verona, completed by Francesco da Castello.
In this same period Giovanni de Verona created the superb wood inlays that decorate the choir and the sacristy, probably the most beautiful and complex in Italy.
The lower Renaissance part of the facade dates from the second half of the 16th century.
Of the Romanesque church, the upper part of the facade remains, and a part of the central nave until later works.

Inside, the central nave and the presbyterium are covered by a barrel vault, the side aisles by cross vaults, as are the arms of the transept where the vaults are painted with the evangelists and doctors of the church by Domenico Morone. The crossing is covered by an umbrella vault in twelve sections.
After the main altar is the famous dark walnut wood choir, inlaid, carved and incrusted, made by fra’ Giovanni da Verona.
The rectangular sacristy has, high up, a pictorial cycle made by Francesco Morone, with portraits of popes, Benedictines, doges of Venice. Below are the wooden cabinets and the walnut wainscoting, also carved and inlaid, a masterpiece by Fra’ Giovanni made between 1519 and 1523.
The crypt, with its heterogeneous columns, is covered with vaults.

Information

• Wikipedia article: en.wikipedia.org
• Tourist portals: www.turismoverona.eu

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