The bell tower of this church was leaning by a metre and a half. The prefect ordered it closed, the presbytery and a neighbouring house were evacuated, and demolition had already begun. Then somebody decided nothing of the sort would happen: three years of works, and the tower was put back upright.
What to see
The bell tower had been built in 1828 and had lasted barely a century before it started to lean. What changed the decision about demolition was the curate of Rosso, don Giovanni Battista Piccardo, who commissioned the works; the solemn reopening was celebrated by the archbishop of Genoa in August 1931.
The church is recorded from the early thirteenth century. It was rebuilt between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when it gained independence from the pieve of Bargagli, and in those years something curious also happened: for a while the documents call it the church of San Bartolomeo the apostle, then they go back to the old dedication to san Colombano, and no more is said about it.
Visiting
The church is in the hamlet of Moranego, municipality of Davagna, in the val Bisagno behind Genoa; it is a parish church and opens for services. Twenty minutes.
Our editors' tip
Look at the bell tower and try to picture it out of true by a metre and a half. Then think of whoever, in a hill hamlet at the end of the twenties, with the demolition site already open, decided it could be straightened rather than pulled down. It is a decision of few people and much stubbornness, and that is why that tower is still there.