From the little square of the village, along a little road with walnuts, you can reach S. Giovanni Battista church, one of the characteristic cultural element of Rendena valley.
Massimeno, S. Giovanni Battista medieval church
Simone BaschenisIt is a medieval church, restored in the Sixteen century and frescoed by Simone Baschenis.
On the main facade there is a big granite portal with a cross carved in the lintel; on the left there is S. Cristoforo fresco with saints and the Rendena landsape in the background.
Above the portal there is a Madonna with Child and angels, the saints Antonio Abate and Giovanni Battista (S. Baschenis).
Francesco ComitiIn the frame below there the date 1553 and the memory of the rebuilding in 1964 made by Massimeno municipality to "Francesco Comiti muratore comasco” (Como bricklayer).
The walled-in granite stoup is linked to a singular legend: people that wanted to have a baby had to put their head into the hole.
"Castèl"The placed where the church is placed is called "Castèl": according the popular tradition, on the plain just above at 890 mt there was the original village of Massimeno, then destroyed by a landslide or a fire. It was probably an area of a prehistoric fort, as indicated by the toponyms "Guardia" (guard) and "Torre" (tower).
