Archaeological investigations were undertaken during the repaving of the church of S. Fiorentino. The trenches placed throughout the nave identified two main aspects: the absence of an earlier church and the occupation of the area before the church’s construction which probably did not occur before 11th century.
The entire area resulted as being used for a poor early medieval cemetery, preceded by occupation of which all that remains are traces of burning and a modest structure.
The digging of the church’s foundation trenches cut through many pre-existing burials. The church comprises a presbytery to the east, and a central nave to the west with the choir in the middle. The internal walls were built in two distinct phases, which may perhaps be interpreted as a variation during the course of construction. The altar is built from brick fragments resting on a loose foundation of the same material. The layout of the medieval building, with a single nave (26 m long, 7.60 m wide), with transept, was partitioned in a particular way: The presbytery, placed to the east in the apse area, was separated by a flight of steps from the choir, delimited by three walls of undetermined height which separated it from the transept and the nave. It was entered to the east, in the centre of the façade and to the south in the proximity of a narrow corridor.
The base of the pavement was formed by a loose foundation in brick fragments on top of which was a level of whitish mortar. The presence of a coin dating to the first half of the 11th century, on the construction floor indicates that the church at Nuvolato was built in the central part of the Middle Ages. There were no substantial modifications until the end of the Middle Ages when the interior of the nave was altered. (Elena Maria Menotti, Alberto Manicardi)