In the monumental-archeological area in Pieve di San Vitale, exploration activities with a historical and cultural nature are organized by Bailando with a particular attention to the wide territory in which the area is - in particular ancient paths like Via Matildica del Volto Santo and Spallanzani path. In addition, there is a collaboration with other territorial associations for realizing events for cultural promotion like seminars, concerts and conferences.
There are also didattic labs, realized in a multimedial prospective and suitable for all the school grades and orders, which unifying the stone museum finding analysis (Pieve's heart), ancient documents and storytelling activities, can accompany the student to discover the territory through the history lens.
About the hospitality, the ancient vicarage was restored and transformed in a Hostel, which can host 30 people, with annexed Restaurant. In particular, the Restaurant is characterized by traditional and local dishes, realized by high quality raw materials km0.
Parish Church of San Vitale and Museum in brief:
The first socially organized inhabitants of this area were, since the sixth century BC, the Ligurian Verabolensens - a derogatory definition, given by the Roman enemies - who identified them as "javelin throwers". They elected Mount Letum (San Vitale) as the political-administrative-military fulcrum of the "department" that included the entire Reggio and Modena Apennines. Precisely in this place, the war broke out in which the Ligurians were dragged by the Romans starting from 256 BC, and which saw them defeated in 176 BC.
Between the seventh and ninth centuries AD. C., on the other hand, the Byzantines then landed here. Religious and jurists, sent by the bishop of Ravenna, brought not only Christianity to these places, but also the law and the art of stone working. In the clearing, upstream of the defensive castrum, a parish church was built - or rather a rural "mother church" - dedicated to San Vitale, a title which, in popular culture, was also extended to the mountain that hosted it. Later, thanks to the express initiative of Matilde di Canossa, the Pieve, after centuries of neglect, became for the following centuries one of the cornerstones of the religious, legal, cultural and social organization of the Reggio Apennines. Around 1105 reconstruction works were started on the structure, which stood in a different position from the Byzantine cult building, involving workers who had also worked on the building of Modena's cathedral . The consecration of the new church took place on 29 August 1145. The seventeenth century, however, marked the beginning of the decline for the Matildic parish. The parsonage of Byzantine origin was in fact transformed into a stately building, also using valuable materials from the parish itself. This is why the hostel and the adjoining restaurant can themselves be considered a cultural asset, being integral parts and silent witnesses of the troubled history of this place. The stone museum, housed within the Matilda Parish and conceived in a multimedia perspective, also becomes an additional extremely suggestive didactic center for the variety of fragments it contains and for their historical depth.
