Free admission
A time capsule. This is, after all, the Convent of the Neveri, where bricks, stones and frescoes tell layer after layer of the thousand-year history of this place and the men who shaped it.
In the village of Averga, between present-day Bariano and Morengo, the Romans of the Republican era built the first core of the building, embellishing it with columns and mosaics; centuries later, their fellow Christians of the Late Empire used it as a mausoleum, covering it with splendid frescoes that vividly illustrate episodes from the Old Testament.
In the 6th century the Lombards transformed it into the baptistery attached to the plebian church and reused the adjacent ancient cemetery area to bury their dead: some Roman and Lombard tombs can still be seen today.
It is still the wall paintings that transport us then through the Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, when the inhabitants of Bariano – Averga now vanished, swept away by the floods of the Serio River – and the Carmelite friars gave the Convent its present layout.
Their spirituality and special devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel can be seen in what remains of the ex-votos that once lined the walls of the chapel dedicated to Her, carved out of the baptistery.
The Carmelites are the last major players in the history of this holy place, which was suppressed by order of the Most Serene Republic of Venice in 1770 and sold at auction. The next two centuries of leases to landowners and peasants led the place to ruin and oblivion.
Until in 2001 the rediscovery and restoration began, which in sixteen years brought to light this treasure chest in which, as in the pages of a book, men wrote their faith.
Free admission
Open to the public: second Sunday of the month, April to July and September to December
Guided tours 2:30 and 4:00 p.m.
Reservation required: prenotazioni@parrocchiabariano.it
Cost: Free admission
Possibility of private tours by reservation: prenotazioni@parrocchiabariano.it
| Roman Street, 17, 24050, Bariano, Bergamo |
| Accessibility |