Chiesa di S. Michele Arcangelo (St. Michael the Archangel)


This is where Giuseppe Verdi was baptized and where he practised playing the organ in his early childhood under the guidance of his first teacher, Pietro Baistrocchi. The organ, built in 1797 by Ferdinando Bossi of Bergamo, was restored in 1900 and again in 1964. The church dates back to the early middle ages, although what we see today is the appearance it was given in the 16th and 17th centuries. Preserved inside the church are numerous frescoes depicting devotional images from the beginning of the 16th century, two paintings with St. Michael the Archangel and the Virgin and Saints by Pietro Balestra of Busseto, and a stupendous archaic wooden statue of the Dead Christ. Both interesting and unusual, although visible only during the Holy Week when it is lifted above the main altar, is a large 19th century painting with a scene of Calvary, a work of art by the scenographer Girolamo Magnani of Fidenza. In the first chapel to the right is the font where Giuseppe Verdi was baptised. Other Verdi relics are visible in the small room located below the organ. At the base of the bell tower a plaque commemorates the year 1814 when Luigia Uttini sought refuge there with her baby Giuseppe to escape the Russian and Austrian troops in the turbulent period immediately following Napoleon’s defeat.



Info

Piazza Guareschi, 65 – Roncole Verdi – Busseto (PR)
Tel. 0524.92294
parrocchiadironcoleverdi@gmail.com