Bale parish church and its freestanding Romanesque bell tower
Bale’s parish church dates from the 19th century, while its freestanding bell tower is medieval. Inside the church is a Romanesque wooden crucifix.
Older works inside a newer church
The parish church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Saint Elizabeth was built between 1879 and 1882 on the site of earlier churches in the old centre of Bale. Monsignor Paolo De Peris promoted its construction during Tomaso Bembo’s term as mayor. The three-aisled church was consecrated in 1882.
Inside are works older than the present walls: a 13th-century Romanesque wooden crucifix and a 15th-century statue of Our Lady of Mon Perin. Beneath the apse, the lapidarium in the crypt houses a separate collection of stone fragments from earlier churches in Bale and the surrounding area.
The bell tower in front of the west façade
The freestanding bell tower, built of limestone blocks, dates from the 11th century. It also served as a watchtower: narrow openings resembling arrow slits pierce the lower storeys, with cross-shaped openings below the belfry. The builders reused fragments of earlier stone church furnishings in the window surrounds and lintels.
Successive generations added to the tower. The belfry dates from the 15th or 16th century, and the conical top from the restoration of 1856. Houses once stood against the west and north sides of the tower; they were demolished in the 1970s. The open space around the tower today is therefore more recent than its Romanesque structure.
Address: Castel ul. 96, 52211 Bale