San Giogio Village

San Giorgio is a tiny village of stone houses built around the Romanesque church of the same name on the top of a hill overlooking the Valpolicella. It represents one of the most interesting tourist destinations in Valpolicella Classica. With its panorama which stretches as far as Lake Garda, it is an ideal stop on a wine and food itinerary for wineries.

Oncoming Tours

Inganna Poltron (deceiving the lazy)

The massive red limestone spur on which St. George's is built.

San Giorgio di Valpolicella is locally known as San Giorgio Inganna Poltron ("deceiving the lazy") due to its perched but seemingly easy to reach position. In the past, before the advent of motorized vehicles, the ascent to San Giorgio must have been much more difficult than it appeared from the bottom of the valley, hence the nickname.

The History

San Giorgio was already an important religious center in pre-Roman times, when the present-day Valpolicella was inhabited by an ancient and mysterious Paleovenetian population: the Arusnati. It was probably a lineage of Gallic-Celtic origin, even if other hypotheses give them now as Etruscans or even as descendants of the Sumerians. The Arusnati lived in independent villages, sort of city-states that referred however to what today is San George as religious capital.

More or less where the church stands today, in pre-Roman and Roman times, there was a temple dedicated to the Sun of which a few impressive remains are clearly visible in the churchyard.

All around the parish church, over the years, have been found the remains of ancient settlements, often the subject of systematic archaeological excavations that have unearthed many artifacts now collected in a antiquarium attached to the church and can be visited only on certain occasions or by appointment.

The Parish Church of St. George

The west apse of the parish church.

The name of the village derives from theChurch of San Giorgio an ancient Romanesque parish church that stands at the center of the town. The current building dates back to the VIII century, which makes it one of the oldest places of worship, still in use, in the whole of the Veronese territory. The church was built on the remains of much older buildings.

The interior, with its three naves, austere and dark.

With the end of the Roman Empire and the subsequent barbarian invasions, Christianity slowly spread to Valpolicella and the pagan places of worship were often replaced or incorporated into the churches. This was also the case in San Giorgio, so much so that the base of one of the columns in the left-hand nave is the altar of the ancient Temple of the Sun. The inscriptions can still be clearly read.

One of the capitals of the cloister colonnade.

Unlike the city churches that were embellished with more and more lavish works of art and decorations as the centuries and architectural styles changed, San Giorgio has maintained its austere and archaic beauty until today. In the humble peasant provinces, building material was what was most readily available, and the thick walls of the pieve are made of flakes of the hard limestone that makes up much of the Valpolicella hills. The only decorations are a few cycles of frescoes, as simple in their dry and synthetic features as they are impactful. The exit from the Garden of Eden in particular.

The ciborium with the characteristic Celtic decorations typical of Lombard architecture.

The most fascinating feature, however, is the Longobard ciborium, a sort of stone canopy finely carved with Celtic knots and zoomorphic and vegetable figures. Among them, of course, there is the vine, after all we are in Valpolicella.

The double apse is another feature that betrays the age of the building and the Nordic influences.
The complex is completed by the massive and austere bell tower and by the cloister of the ancient monastery once annexed to the parish.

If you want to know more

The Panorama

The panorama you can enjoy from San Giorgio. The hill of the Grola and behind the lake Garda.

A few steps away from the parish church of San Giorgio is a terrace that seems to be suspended in the void towards the Valpolicella and the lake of Garda. From there the visitor's gaze sweeps over thevineyards of Sant'Ambrogio, one of the villages which make up the territory of Valpolicella Classica. A little further the hill called Grola one of the most suitable areas for the wine production of the whole area, characterized by terraces and the flat top surrounded by cypresses. Beyond the Grola in the distance you can see the flat blue surface of Lake Garda. On a particularly clear day you can clearly see the long peninsula of Sirmione. On the opposite side, towards the east, Verona. Basically in front of the viewer opens the entire Valpolicella.

Valpolicella Itineraries

San Giorgio is the ideal stop of a guided tour in Valpolicella either for half a day or for a whole day tour. After a visit with tasting in one of the numerous wineries of the territory, where it is possible to appreciate amarone, the Recioto or the Ripasso, San Giorgio di Valpolicella can be an ideal place to take a break and enjoy a bit of history, art, architecture and a breathtaking view before heading back home. In full day tours San Giorgio offers many solutions for lunch before continuing perhaps to the nearby Lake Garda, from a quick but tasty snack of bread, monte veronese and soppressa veneta to a full meal with traditional cuisine in one of the restaurants in the country.