Highlights
Highlights
Pause in front of the Duomo of San Donnino and let yourself be charmed by Antelami's bas-reliefs: every stone tells stories of faith, life and death with a sculptural mastery that moves you.
Descend into the underground crypt where the relics of the martyred saint have rested for 1700 years: here pilgrims bound for Rome along the Via Francigena prayed.
Then walk a stretch of the Via Francigena as far as the Pieve of Cabriolo: 3 km of spiritual journey across fields and villages.
From Borgo San Donnino to Fidenza: two thousand years of history
The ancient name Fidentia (from the Latin "fidens", trust) bears witness to the Roman origins of the town on the Via Emilia.
In the Middle Ages it was renamed Borgo San Donnino in honour of the Christian martyr Donnino, a soldier of the emperor Maximian killed in 296 AD for converting to Christianity.
Legend has it that after being beheaded, Donnino picked up his own head and walked to the place where the cathedral now stands.
Benedetto Antelami and the Romanesque Duomo
After the devastating earthquake of 1117, the cathedral was rebuilt between the late 11th and the early 13th centuries under the direction of Benedetto Antelami, the greatest Italian Romanesque sculptor and architect.
Antelami left the work unfinished when he was called back to Parma to build the Baptistery, but his genius is visible in every detail.
The facade is a stone book: the bas-reliefs recount biblical episodes, the life of Saint Donnino, medieval symbols and fantastical creatures.
The crypt, the Via Francigena and Fidenza today
The underground crypt, the sacred heart of the building, preserves the relics of Saint Donnino and is the evolution of the first early-Christian chapel of the 4th century.
Here pilgrims would stop to pray on their journey to Rome along the Via Francigena. Three kilometres away stands the Romanesque Pieve of Cabriolo dedicated to Saint Thomas of Canterbury.
From Roman Fidentia to the Romanesque jewel of Antelami
Fidenza is a lively city of art set on the Via Emilia, the second town in the province of Parma after the capital. Its symbol is the magnificent Cathedral of San Donnino (11th-13th century), one of the absolute masterpieces of Po Valley Romanesque, designed and sculpted by Benedetto Antelami, the same master as the Baptistery of Parma. The gabled facade, left unfinished, is a riot of bas-reliefs and statues with didactic intent: the Portal of Life (columns on rams), the Portal of Death (columns on telamones) and the central portal watched over by two stylophore lions. Above the main portal, a precious frieze recounts the life of San Donnino, a Christian martyr killed in AD 296 in Fidenza itself. In the side niches stand the statues of Ezekiel and David, while the apostle Simon holds a parchment showing the way to Rome: Fidenza was indeed an obligatory stop on the Via Francigena, the pilgrim road from Canterbury to Rome. Today Fidenza unites art, history and the contemporary: the 19th-century Magnani Theatre, the Cathedral Museum with medieval sacred art and the famous Fidenza Village, a luxury outlet with 120+ international brand boutiques, make it the perfect destination for culture and shopping.
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Roman origins and the cult of San Donnino
The ancient name Fidentia (from the Latin 'fidens', trust) bears witness to the city's Roman origins on the Via Emilia. In the Middle Ages it was renamed Borgo San Donnino in honour of the Christian martyr Donninus, a soldier of the emperor Maximian killed in AD 296 for converting to Christianity. Legend has it that after his beheading Donninus picked up his own head and walked to the spot where the cathedral stands today. In the 5th century a first Early Christian church was built over the saint's remains, extended in the Lombard age by Queen Theodelinda (7th century) and then by the emperor Charlemagne. In 1162 Frederick Barbarossa declared the church 'Imperial Church'. Only in 1927 did the city take back its original name of Fidenza.
Antelami's masterpiece on the Via Francigena
After the devastating earthquake of 1117, the cathedral was rebuilt between the end of the 11th and the beginning of the 13th centuries under the direction of Benedetto Antelami, the greatest Italian Romanesque sculptor and architect. Antelami left the work unfinished when he was called back to Parma to create the Baptistery, but his genius is visible in every detail. The facade is a book of stone: the bas-reliefs recount biblical episodes, the life of San Donnino, medieval symbols and fantastical creatures. The two square towers are known as the Trabucco Tower (right) and the Folletto or Storks Tower (left). The three-aisled interior blends Romanesque and Gothic elements, with the apsidal basin decorated by 13th-century sculptures depicting Christ the Master enthroned.
The crypt, the Magnani Theatre and the Fidenza Village
The underground crypt, the sacred heart of the building, preserves the relics of San Donnino and is the evolution of the first Early Christian chapel of the 4th century. Here pilgrims paused in prayer on their journey to Rome along the Via Francigena. 3 km away stands the Romanesque Pieve of Cabriolo, dedicated to St Thomas Becket of Canterbury. Today Fidenza is a dynamic city with the Girolamo Magnani Theatre (1813), the Cathedral Museum with sacred art from the 11th to the 18th century, Piazza Garibaldi with the Town Hall, and the Fidenza Village (7 km), a luxury outlet with over 120 boutiques of Italian and international brands. Annual events such as the Great Fair of Borgo San Donnino (autumn) animate the city.