HISTORY
The oratory of San Michele Arcangelo is situated close to the small medieval town of Fiumalbo, in the province of Modena. Its foundation as a Romanesque church is attested by several 13th-century documents. In the 14th century it was dedicated to San Michele, a saint venerated by the Lombards, as visible in the inscription on the north side of the building. Notwithstanding the church’s subsequent destruction, during the 15th century it received several significant frescoes and a polychrome wooden cross. In the 17th century, the oratory was rebuilt, following the prescripts of the Council of Trent by Ottavio Lenzini, rector of the parish of Fiumalbo, in addition to the paintings of saints and floral motifs added to the lateral walls. After various modifications and numerous 19th-century restorations, in 1931, construction on a new bell tower was begun. In the last ten years, the church of San Michele Arcangelo underwent yet another restoration, to adapt it to the liturgical requirements of Vatican II.

ART-HISTORICAL NOTES
The façade of the church is very simple, sober, and unadorned, its entrance preceded by a triple-arched portico, resting on columns. To the side of the façade is the 20th-century campanile, terminating in a pyramidal spire. The interior of the church maintains the sobriety of the Romanesque style, including the wood-trussed ceiling. The plan consists of a single nave, terminating in a semicircular apse, with decoration from the end of the 12th century, representing the most significant part of the building. In fact, the apse preserves the traces of the influence of the masters from Campione, active at the time in the workshop of the Duomo  of Modena. In the upper registers of the walls, two precious frescoes, probably datable to 1400 depict the “Madonna del Cardo” with child to the left of the altar, and San Michele Arcangelo, to the right.