Chiesa di San Tomaso

The church of San Tomaso is built by Count Odorico d’Arco. Next to the church there was a leper colony for the care of the sick.

The church was consecrated in 1194, and dedicated to Saint Thomas Becket, the English chancellor slain, in 1170. The church is named after Becket , wanting perhaps to recall the assassination of the Trentino bishop Adelpreto, which took place not far from this place.

The church, located on the edge of the territories of the Counts of Arco and the community of Riva, soon obtained the donation of substantial property, was priory and finally benefit of the Municipality of Riva who was entitled to the collection of taxes and the management of the festival of the patron. The building is in the typical Romanesque structure with a single rectangular compartment, concluded with an apse of particular value for the frescoes just mentioned. In the south and west walls stand two bishop figures, probably Adelpreto and Tomaso Becket. The floor is made of local stone, like the walls and jambs, not so the bell tower, which belongs to a later development.