The Rotunda of San Tomè

The roundabout of San Tomè, or just San Tomè as it is more generally known, is located in the territory of the municipality of Almenno San Bartolomeo.In ancient times, near the roundabout of San Tomè in Almenno San Bartolomeo passed the route of the military road of Rezia. The origins of the church are not historically certain. It seems that in the V-VI century a religious aedicule was built, and later, in the IX century, the first church with a circular plan. It was abandoned in 975, when the feudal court of Almenno was donated by the counts of Lecco to the Bishop of Bergamo. In 1150 the Bishop decided to rebuild the church, and in 1180 the presbytery and the apse were completed. He also had a female monastery built, which was inhabited for two centuries before going into crisis and being suppressed in 1407. Its goods were forfeited by the bishop and then assigned to a sharecropper. In the 16th century the church was entrusted to the custody of hermits; in 1536, it was sold to the parish of Almenno S. Salvatore. For over four centuries it was 'disputed' between the two parishes of Almenno S. Salvatore and S. Bartolomeo. In 1906 it was definitively entrusted to Almenno S. Bartolomeo.it is located in a defiladed zone, in the middle of the fields, maybe because it rises on an ancient necropolis, near the Brembo river. Its shape should be traced back to the medieval use of copying the rotunda of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the place where it is thought Christ was buried. The church is built of rough stone and is divided into three parts - nave, lantern and tiburium. Inside, the little light coming from the tiny windows increases the sense of recollection. The capitals are remarkable, each one different from the other, with vegetable decorations and allegorical stories. Next to San Tomè there was a small monastery, later transformed into a farmhouse. A skilful restoration has allowed it to be recovered and it now houses a study centre - the Antenna Europea del Romanico (European Antenna of the Romanesque) - where conferences, exhibitions and events are held.