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Driving up the Mezzane Valley, a few kilometers north-east of Verona, you arrive in one of the smallest municipalities on the Lessinia plateau: San Mauro di Saline. 

The ancient name of the village is Salàin, perhaps of Cimbrian, Celtic or even Rhaetian origin. In more recent times the name of the patron saint was added to the local toponym. ​

 

The village is dominated by the heights of Monte Moro, among whose woods there is a clearing where you can find the main monument of the village, the ancient parish church of San Leonardo. The building, in Romanesque style, dates back to the end of the fourteenth century, and consists of three naves and three apses. The interior is embellished with a fourteenth-century fresco of the Madonna with San Leonardo. A large portico at the entrance gave shelter to pilgrims, but also to the shepherds of the area who went there to obtain protection for their livestock: some rings for tying the animals are still visible outside. ​

 

In September the Festival of San Leonardo is celebrated in San Mauro, traditionally linked to the equinoctial cults of the harvest, but San Mauro is also known for the Festival of Chestnuts, at the end of October.