The Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the parish church of Paderno and is located in Piazza Madonnina del Grappa. The first document attesting its existence is from 1297, a papal tithe framed within the context of the parish of San Pietro di Fonte. A first enlargement of the original church dates back to the 16th century. Following the earthquake of February 25, 1695, the church suffered extensive damage and was therefore rebuilt. In the same period, a new bell tower was erected, with works lasting for a long time until 1902, the year of the inauguration of the spire. The building has a single nave, oriented east-west with an entrance to the west and an apse area to the east ; to the sides of the presbytery there are two rooms, a sacristy and a chapel. The side chapels, two on each side of the nave, house marble altars, one of which has a valuable altar frontal attributed to Bernardo Tabacco (1728). The west facade, where the main entrance is located, has a pediment supported by four pilasters. Above the entrance is the church’s dedication “mysterio incarnationis dicatum”. Two other entrances are located along the south and north sides. The presbytery area ends with a circular apse. Along the south and north sides, two niches open on each side, with as many minor altars dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Queen, Saint Anthony, Saint John the Evangelist, and Saint James. The false ceiling of the nave consists of a lunetted barrel vault ; that of the presbytery by a pavilion vault. Both are made of cane mats tied together and plastered, fixed to the overlying wooden beams. The roof, double-pitched, is covered with a traditional terracotta tile mantle. The walls are rhythmically decorated with pilasters and overlying cornices with gilded friezes. The nave ceiling is decorated with the Last Judgment, a work by Giovanni De Min (1824). The presbytery ceiling is frescoed with the theme of the Annunciation by Francesco Trivellin (1709).
PADERNO BELL TOWER
The current bell tower of Paderno was designed by Giorgio Massari in 1735 and was completed by 1775. The spire dates back to the early 20th century, inaugurated in 1902. Previously, the old bell tower of the town, later demolished, had been located close to, if not united with, the altar of Sant’Antonio of the Church of Santa Maria Rossa.
