Chiesa della Natività di Maria (San Terenzo)

The Church of the Nativity of Mary in San Terenzo preserves a fifteenth-century Madonna dell'Arena panel and a 1528 relief by Domenico Gar.

Why it matters

The church serves the historic fishing and boatbuilding borgo of San Terenzo. Its Marian devotion is linked to a 1482 commission by local church officers to the Piacenzan painter Gottardo da Piacenza. The preserved panel provides material evidence of that patronage alongside the beach legend associated with the Madonna dell'Arena.

What to notice

The church's works include Paolo Gerolamo Piola's Calling of Saint Peter, the Madonna dell'Arena panel and a canvas depicting the landing of Saint Terenzo. Domenico Gar's 1528 bas-relief shows Saints Fabian, Roch and Sebastian, protectors associated with plague devotion. A marble copy of the Madonna dell'Arena was placed by the beach in 1937.

Context and history

San Terenzo developed as a distinct village within the Lerici area. A record from 1482 documents the commission of the Madonna dell'Arena panel to Gottardo da Piacenza. The same congregation is associated with the drawing for Gar's relief of plague protectors. A reliquary containing relics of Saints Boniface and Prosper arrived in the mid-eighteenth century. The 1937 marble image records the local tradition that the Madonna's image was found on the beach.