Salzano

The bell tower of Salzano was begun in 1712 and finished in 1879: a hundred and sixty-seven years of work, to reach sixty-nine metres of Val di Sole stone. On top there is an angel almost three metres tall, though not the original one: that was struck by lightning in August 1984. Of the five bells the largest is called San Giuseppe and bears the words Non nobis, Domine, non nobis, sed Nomini tuo da gloriam — not to us, Lord, but to your name give glory.

Between 1867 and 1875 the archpriest of Salzano was don Giuseppe Sarto, who would become pope Pius X; and as pope, in 1911, he gave his old parish the baptistery that is still there. The village square bears his name, and opposite the bell tower there is a museum with documents, relics and vestments that belonged to him. That square, for that matter, has changed a great deal: until a little over a century ago much of its surface was taken up by the cemetery, later moved, and by the old presbytery, demolished in 1887.