HISTORY
Santa Maria Assunta is located in the small town of Bordone. The church preserves its medieval nucleus despite various later renovations. It is situated along the historic Via Francigena, an important thoroughfare for pilgrims that constituted the principle network in the Roman period between Parma and Lumi, while in the Lombard period, it was the only link between Tuscany and the Po Valley. Santa Maria Assunta is found at about the halfway point on the pass through the Apennines, and became a fundamental stop for pilgrims traveling to Rome. Its existence was first documented in 1005, though recent restoration work has revealed the presence of much older foundations predating the road, possibly from about the 7^th century. In its present form, the structure has been radically modified over time, particularly in the interventions completed between 1640 and 1670 conforming to the directives of the Tridentine reform.

ART-HISTORICAL NOTES
The church that is ascribable to the Romanesque period was adapted from a preexisting building from the 9^th century, that had an apse and ashlar masonry. However, recent art-historical research has highlighted the possibility that the Carolingian structure was itself built on top of a 6^th-century Byzantine church, which was probably centrally planned, with the apse in the east. The church today has a single nave, terminating in a flat-ended apse, with lateral chapels from the 16^th and 17^th centuries.