Looking at the facade of the Basilica, you will notice a small white pyramid placed on the capital of the column to the left of the central arch: underneath, there is a precious urn of uncertain date.
It is attributed by some to Roman times, while for others it holds the remains of Tiziana, the 12-year-old daughter of Longobard Queen Theodolinda.
The inscription on the urn is marred by chisel blows, but the letters read, “RO…. TI…NAE QUAE VIXIT ANN. XII. M.VII D. XIII.”
But other mysteries are enclosed in this basilica.
For example: an “ourobos,” that is, the serpent biting its tail, is carved on the three funerary monuments located in the right minor apse.
This symbol is related to alchemy, and it encloses a butterfly that symbolizes metamorphosis-what does it have to do with the Catholic religion?
The architectural style of the Basilica is recognized as Romanesque and dated between the 11th-13th centuries.
Although it has been unused since 1500, you will be able to notice that the three apses that have come down to us are built with unequal stones of different shape, color and material, as are the remaining columns.
Moreover, only these apses and the first bay, the only one left, are covered by roofs, although no longer original.
The uncovered part was and is part of the cemetery of Bonate Sotto with still many burial mounds and testimonies.
Inside, you can admire the original capitals, carved in zoomorphic, anthropomorphic and geometric forms, which are reminiscent of the Cluniac style and almost seem to anticipate the Gothic style typical of Cluny.
Curiosity:
According to oral sources, until the 1980s, there was a large stone near the Basilica, called a ‘pile’ (which is also mentioned in a letter of 1671 but of which traces have been lost) equipped with a cavity containing water, which even in the worst drought periods did not dry up, endowed with thaumaturgical power for popular tradition; people bathed their eyes with that water (a legacy of pagan customs), until (legend has it) a hunter doused his dog with water from the pile and it retained none.