Torre campanaria romanica (cella Nevigiensis)

The Romanesque bell tower of Santa Maria del Piano survives at Borgonuovo, outside Neive’s hilltop historic centre. It records the history of a Benedictine foundation known as the Cella Nevigensis.

Why it matters

The tower and surviving sacristy preserve traces of an abbey with tenth-century origins. The church appears in an imperial document of 1014, while the surviving tower belongs to the later medieval development of the complex.

What to notice

The square tower has successive stages marked by decorative arches. Its lower levels are closed, while single-arched openings articulate the upper stages. It is distinct from Neive’s civic clock tower in the historic centre.

Context and history

The church and Benedictine community expanded during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, alongside a substantial agricultural estate. By the seventeenth century the monastery had fallen out of use. The surviving tower preserves the memory of this monastic landscape rather than the defensive history of the hilltop castle.