Pieve di Santa Maria Assunta

The Parish Church of Santa Maria of Fabbrica Curone is a magnificent example of Romanesque architecture, totally in riverstone or, in any case, of local origin. The construction is longitudinal without transept and with square apse. The nave presents a gabled roof, while a simple layer covers the two aisles. The facade is characterised by the presence of a prothyrum, also in stone, built somewhere around 1881. Above the entrance portal is a precious lunette, decorated in bas-relief, one of the few decorative elements of the original church structure. According to the symbolist interpretation given to it, it is a lion symbolising Jesus Christ, who carries the symbol of the Cross triumphantly, with which he defeats the devil (serpent) and gives souls immortality (peacock). According to another and more conventional interpretation, they are simply the symbols of the Evangelists Mark (Lion) and John (eagle). On the counterfacade, above the door, there is still a visible trace of the original Romanesque two-light window, only decoration probably of the ancient façade, then closed to open three windows to give greater light to the church. Always on the facade, a row of simple arches is visible under the roofs, as along the sides of the Church, intervalled by pilasters above the aisles. The bell tower was built in 1606 as evidenced by an inscription on one of the stones of the basement; the current appearance is the result of subsequent additions and modifications. The interior of the church has three naves; the vaulted ceiling was built in the 17th century, with the consequent covering of the original wooden trusses and of the single-light windows that open onto the nave. The pillars in the order of four per aisle are composed of a simple square body against which two semi-columns rest having an ornamental purpose. The interior paving formed by stone slabs, is still the original one. Inside, the church of Fabbrica preserves a beautiful statue of Our Lady of the Assumption dated 1859 by Luigi Montecucco, a sculptor from Gavi whose works are present in many parishes of the Diocese of Tortona. Entering, to the right, the Rosary altar, belonging to the homonymous fraternity. The prestigious 17th century oil painting depicting the archpriest A. Dall'Occhio, provost of Fabbrica from 1624 to 1668, commissioner of the work, together with San Domenico at the Virgin’s feet, serves as an altarpiece.