Chiesa di Santa Maria e San Siro

The Church of Santa Maria is first recorded in documents that date from 1165. The double naming bears witness to the fact that there were two separate churches in Sale: San Siro, a fortified church outside the town walls and Santa Maria, inside the town. The current church, with single chamber and three naves, is the result of extensive reconstruction executed over the 14th and 15th centuries. The façade, in clay with terracotta decoration, dates back to the first half of the 15th century, but presents the original pattern only on the right side; the left side and the bell tower collapsed after an earthquake in 1704, after which the reconstruction work was carried out. There are interesting fragments of frescoes to be seen inside, particularly in the presbytery, carried out between 1460 and 1470 by a Lombard artist known as Maestro dei Maggi, from the name of the commissioning family. On 24 June 1165, the peace treaty between Tortonesi and Pavesi was sealed inside this church in the presence of the Emperor Federico Barbarossa, of the Consuls of the City of Milan and of the Imperial legates.