Vicofertile - San Geminiano

Vicofertile, located at the old Via Francigena, is meanwhile is a small suburb of the City of Parma.

A church probably existed in Vicofertile already within the 9th century, but the church mentioned in a document from 1039 was smaller than the church seen here. Excavations found the foundations about 50cms under the floor of San Geminiano.

Today´s church was erected around 1200. The roof burned down in 1325, but got rebuilt soon after. The church got modified a couple of times, but a a restoration undertaken in the early 20th century got rid of all interior Baroque additions.

The capitals were probably created around 1220/1230 - and all six are somehow enigmatic. Only the mermaid (previous upload) seems "simply".

A noble? king? with a crown? on his head, seated on a throne? holds his tummy, while a long-haired dwarf? rides a pony, that has short rear legs....

When I thought about it, I remembered the "painted pony" and the "spinnig wheel"...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aV22RVJDxyw