There is something odd when Baroque architecture weathers (and festival lights are added.) The result is certainly nothing less than “Felliniesque,” which perhaps describes its immense appeal as well.
You take a picture like this, and then, when you think you’ll release it, you stumble upon more information than you’ve ever known before. That’s the nice part of being a resident of a place, even a very part-time one. You have cause to care about the facts that pile up.
In any case, Olivola was founded around the 12th century. By 1275 the staunch, square castle with four towers, which this church faces, had become a Malaspina residence.
Despite Olivola’s interesting appearance from my bathroom window when I’m in Italy, the castle is no longer. What brought it down? War? Neglect? A population that needed building materials more than castles? Nope. The earthquake of 1920 brought it down.
Now that makes me just a tad nervous.