The parish church of S. Bartolemeo is situated to the south of the hamlet of S. Zaccaria, along the via Dismano which leads from Ravenna to Cesena. Although its present appearance dates to the end of the 18th century, the church was attested for the first time in 959 A.D. Moreover, the building and surrounding area have produced elements of church decoration datable to the 5th-6th century. The only surviving evidence of the church’s millenary history is the Romanesque bell-tower dating to the 11th century.

The archaeological excavation undertaken from 2004 to 2007 initially looked at the area in front of the present church, built at the end of the 18th century (area 1). This led to the identification of the preceding Renaissance building, preserved only at foundation level, but above all to the investigation of the early medieval apse (8th-9th century) attested in written sources. This structure presented the canonical orientation to the east and a semicircular interior profile and pentagonal exterior profile. The structure’s typology is characteristic of ecclesiastical architecture in Ravenna. In particular, amongst the many examples in Romagna it finds a close comparison in the parish church of S. Giorgio di Argenta, datable to between the 6th and 12th century A.D.

The early medieval church stood over an earlier apsidal building, perhaps a late Roman rustic villa of vast size, constructed from the end of the 1st century A.D. onwards and which ceased to function about four centuries later, when in the 5th-7th century A.D. the area was used as a cemetery.

The area surrounding the present church revealed the presence of other important structures (Area 2), represented in the first place by a series of brick pilasters belonging to a building connected to the early medieval church. Inside this building, only partially investigated, a production area was set up for metal founding during the medieval period, as attested by the presence of numerous hearths and a perfectly preserved kiln for the production of bells.

The excavation of a further trench (Area 3) a short distance away from the present church identified part of the medieval and modern cemetery, characterised by intensive use with numerous burials in earth graves.

The opening of another area (Area 4) west of the church produced no archaeological material worthy of note. However, it did lead to the identification of one of the boundaries of the medieval cemetery.

The excavation undertaken at the parish church clarified a number of important points in the dynamics of the transformation of rural settlement between the late antique and early medieval periods. This has already been highlighted by the surveys undertaken by the “Progetto Decimano”, which underlined, in particular, the continuity of occupation and use of the sites, although with different functions, from the Roman to medieval period.