Church of San Sebastiano (Valfornace)

History of the Church of San Sebastiano in Valfornace

The church has ancient origins. A few old paintings survive inside. The small bell gable, at the southeast corner, is later. Inside the rectangular hall, some low walls of hollow bricks have carved out a smaller presbytery and two service rooms.

What to see in the Church of San Sebastiano

The exterior is in stone, with two arched entrance doors. The bell gable rests on a thick battered wall.

Inside, the few old paintings survive on the left wall: a saint dressed in black, crowned by a flying angel, next to a painted date. Above the date the name PETRUS can be read, referring to Pietro da Verona (Saint Peter of Verona), a Dominican martyr. Judging by the lettering and the angel's face, the work may be by Paolo da Visso. Further on appears Saint Sebastian dressed as a page, in red hose, holding an arrow.

A wooden statue of Saint Sebastian from the late 15th century, from the church in Villanova and attributed to an anonymous sculptor from the Marche, is part of the collections of the civic museum of Pievebovigliana, which has been unsafe since the 2016 earthquake.

Visiting the Church of San Sebastiano

The church lies below road level and is easy to miss, so it is worth looking for it carefully. Before setting out, it is advisable to ask about the possibility of going inside. The wooden statue, on the other hand, belongs to the Museo Raffaele Campelli in Pievebovigliana, founded in 1936 and housed in the Palazzo comunale (town hall), which was closed because of damage from the 2016 earthquake: before going, it is worth checking whether it has reopened.

Where the Church of San Sebastiano is located

The church is in Villanova, a hamlet of the municipality of Valfornace, in the locality of Villanova di Sopra. It lies half-hidden, below road level.

Around the Church of San Sebastiano

The Valfornace area has other places of worship, such as the Church of Rosario in Valfornace and the Church of Santissimo Crocifisso, Valfornace. A wider overview is on the page about churches in the Sibillini Mountains.

In the Fiordimonte area there are also the church of Alfi, with a triptych by Nobile da Lucca dated 1513, and the church of Nemi, which holds images by Paolo da Visso from 1447. In Fiordimonte, the Chiesa di Sant'Antonio, built inside the fortifications, has an interior decorated with frescoes by Girolamo di Giovanni.