Church of S. Maria de Lama

1) Longobarde paintings

Santa Maria de Lama preserves the only testimonies of Lombard painting in Salerno. It was founded as a Lombard cult building in the 11th century, structured on two levels. The ipogee, which is the original church is a church oriented to the east with columns and a series of frescoes of saints on the walls. These frescoes are from different eras, to witness also a renovation of the church in different eras. Among the oldest paintings are a Sant’Andrea and a San Bartolomeo

of valuable invoice given the antiquity. The renovation of the church probably in the 13th century was made in relation to the upper church, of which it preserves the new orientation and the structure in three aisles. The frescoes belonging to this new phase are of a series of other saints, including a San Lorenzo and a Santa Radegonda.

2) The upper level

At the upper level the church has a longitudinal plan divided into three aisles with columns of dirt and, as mentioned, it is a renovation of the 13th century. The bell tower is instead of the seventeenth century, while at the end of the fifteenth century are the two frescoes on columns, one of which represents an excellently preserved Christ.

A church, therefore, which represents a very important testimony of the Lombard period, and which presents, in the different stages of construction and decorative, multiple reasons of interest. Beautiful is also the location on the steps of the Lama, one of the many torrents that crossed the city from Mount Bonadies and that today is buried.