Culture
The chapel of San Giacomo
A twelfth-century chapel on a bare hill with a fresco cycle, no ticket office and a key kept at the bar.
San Giacomo stands alone on the bare hill above Collebruno, a small stone chapel with a round apse and a bell that has been silent for a century. Inside, a cycle of faded frescoes covers the walls: saints, a hunting party, a ship, and in one corner a very worried-looking donkey.
There is no ticket office and no guide. The key hangs behind the bar in Collebruno and is handed over with a smile and a request to bring it back. It is, in a region with many beautiful churches, our favourite: small, honest and nearly always empty.
If you walk up from the village, allow forty minutes. If you drive, the track is rough but fine for any car. Take water and a jacket: it is always cooler than you expect.