The Church of Saint Peter in Cembra
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The church of Saint Peter is a beautiful little one, just in the centre of the town of Cembra, on the right side of the Avisio brook.
It's one of the most important examples of holy art in the Cembra Valley, in particular because of the rich frescoes that decorate its inner walls.
Its date of foundation isn't known, but it's certain that it already existed in 1224.
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Saint Peter in Cembra
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In its history the church has undergone many recastings: the current building, in Gothic style, dates back to the first half of the 16th century: the simple façade, with the rose window and the buttresses is embellished by the bell tower with triple and quadruple lancet windows; the interior is with a single nave, three spans vault and pentagonal apse. In the past, under the rose window there was the motif of the crossed keys, now removed.
Numerous are the frescoes inside: besides the 24 episodes of the Life of Christ, in the apse, there are portrayals of God father, of the evangelists, of apostles, several saints, of angels.
It stands out especially a big fresco of the years 1759-60, representing the Last Judgement, Valentino Rovisi's work. The most valuable parts, that distinguish also because of the colours brightness, are the depiction of Christ the judge between the Virgin and the Baptist and the one of the saints Catherine, Mary Magdalene, Margaret, Ursula and Apollonia.
In addition to the frescoes, in Saint Peter you can admire a few late-Gothic wooden sculptures, of the first half of the 16th century, by an unknown Tyrolese author. On the high altar there are two beautiful statues of the saints Peter and Paul that perhaps formed part of a Flügelaltar (an altar with panels).
Other statues represent the apostles and are stylistically comparable to the sculptures of Saint Roch and Saint Sebastian, in the parish church of Lisignago (a little bit afterward Cembra, on the same bank of the brook.)
The «Last Judgement» by Valentino Rovisi (1759)
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For information about the visiting days and times you can ask the Tourist Board of the Piné Plateau and the Cembra Valley, in Piazza Toniolli 2 in Cembra.
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© 2005, Fabio Vassallo