The Church of St Michael Archangel dates back to the 16th century, although from the documentation in the archives of the municipality of Polino its activity as a parish church seems to have begun a century later.
However, little remains from that period due to the damage of the 1948 earthquake: the baptistery, the stoup and the altar of St Joseph, surmounted by an altarpiece depicting his death.
Polino
Polino
Under the altar is a pentagonal urn containing the relics of Saint Valentine the Martyr, as evidenced by the inscription ‘Hic requiscit corpus Valentini Martire’ on the stone below, which was part of the Altar of Saint Valentine, no longer in Polino.
The saint's body was donated in the 17th century by Cardinal Orsini to the Castelli family, who had the lordship of the fortress from 1562, with the appointment of Alessandro Castelli as governor of Narni and Polino.
The seigniory remained in the Castelli family until the end of the 17th century. Thanks to Marquis Giambattista Castelli, Count of Polino, the splendid public fountain in the centre of the village, known as the Castelli Fountain, was built in 1615.
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