Fornovo di Taro - Santa Maria Assunta

A church may have been here since Langobardic times, it is documented since 854, when it was already "pieve". In the 11th century the church got rebuilt with three naves and three apses. Some decades later a large narthex was added, to give shelter to the many pilgrims. Subsequently it got integrated into the church.

Over the next centuries many enlargements and modifications were done. The bell-tower was added in 1302. Mid of the 18th century this was a Baroque church.

Between 1927 and 1942 a major renovation was undertaken, reverting the church and the facade to its Romanesque elements.

Many carvings are scattered over the facade, some of them are parts of a medieval pulpit, that was dismembered in the 18th century.

It is believed that this headless sculpture depicts a pilgrim on his way to Rome. He has some keys hanging from his belt, what is connected to the key of Saint-Peter. On the other hand, he is loaded with so much weight, that he may be as well a peddler, walking from door to door.