Point of interest

Church of San Quirico and Giulitta


The Church of the Martyrs in Sona

The small 15th-century church is dedicated to Saint Quirico and his mother Giulitta, who were both martyred in the year 304 during the persecution ordered by Emperor Diocletian. It is located in Sona, in the direction of the valley that marks the Verona-Peschiera del Garda route.

The Dominicans used it as a lazaret during the plague of 1630, as evidenced by the unusual oval windows on the façade, used to feed the plague victims who were kept isolated from the rest of the population.

The rustic façade has a handcrafted stone portal surmounted by the capital with a faded tempera painting of St Quirinus. Two rectangular windows, slits with gratings and a tiny rosetta window complete the simple but sober architecture of the small complex, which has a small sail-shaped bell tower on the roof. The interior has a single nave with a rectangular apse and, on the right-hand wall, a door leading to the small sacristy.

On the right wall, there is a fragmentary painting from the 17th-18th century by an unknown artist, while on the left there is a fresco depicting St Peter together with Saints Mary Magdalene, Anthony Abbot, Quirico and John the Baptist. To the left of the presbytery, there is another fresco depicting a female figure in a triple frame from the period of the polyptych. The fresco with the valuable crucifixion on the back wall rediscovered around the beginning of the 19th century is the most important work in the entire church and has been attributed to the school of Liberale da Verona. Its view is now partially covered by a classical aedicula added in the 18th century, inside which there is a painting of Madonna with the Child and Saints Quirino and Giulitta.

The wooden furniture includes a confessional and a lectern from the 19th century and a kneeler from the 18th century. There are two simple stoups, both made of stone: one on the right wall, the other on the counter-façade.

What finally should be noted, is a fragment of carved stone depicting a lamb in profile and a stylised palm tree, inserted into the wall under the roof. As the fragments in the parish church of Palazzolo, it is probably a fragment of the decorations of the Longobard church of Santa Giustina, which is now within the perimeter of the cemetery of this community.

Helpful information

Chiesa dei Santi Quirico e Giulitta, Via San Quirico, Sona, VR, Italia

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