Church of San Giorgio
Address and contacts
Via dei Martiri, 5 - 42010 Rio Saliceto
Phone 0039 0522 699872 - Parish church
How to get there
See the indication to reach Reggiolo
Historical notes
The modest chapel of “Sancti Georgii cum centum juges” (“of Saint George with one hundred fields” – tough presently numbering one hundred and twelve along the border of Mandrio di Correggio), first appeared in the list of estates under the church of Reggio Emilia compiled in 1070. The properties had belonged to the Marquis Boniface, father of Matilda, Countess of Canossa. The fact that a priest was appointed in 1238, suggests that a chapel or a church already existed in Rio Saliceto at that time. Since the original church had fallen into disrepair and could no longer cater for the growing local population, it was totally reconstructed on a design by the engineer from Correggio Raffaele Villa, and re-consecrated on 23April 1879.
The present church of San Giorgio Martire has a Latin cross layout with a semicircular apse. The interior is subdivided into one nave and two aisles by square pillars and contains a valuable scagliola ancon above the main altar. This provides the frame for the canvas of the Madonna with Infant Jesus and San Giovannino. The latter may be a copy of a painting attributed to Antoni Allegri, known as Correggio (1498-1534). The church also contains an important painting of the Madonna di Loreto, held up and crowned by angels with the imprisoned San Rocco, a late 17th-century copy of a painting by Guido Reni presently located in the Galleria Estense in Modena.
Due to the damage caused by an earthquake in October 1995, works have had to be carried to reinforce the roofing and restore the decorations. These were completed in 2000.
During excavation works near the church in the early 17th century, an imposing sarcophagus was found, probably of Roman origins. It consisted of a coffin with four lions and two urns at each end. Three of the four lions were destroyed to recover the lime, and the remaining one, bearing the epigraph “C. Fuficius Hilario”, was sent to the Palazzi dei Principi in Correggio where it is still held today.
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