THE CHURCHES

Provincia di Lucca » THE CHURCHES

Pieve of Santa Maria Assunta


The Church

At the heart of upper Versilia, at the gates of the inhabited centre of Stazzema, in the municipal territory where a tragic Nazi slaughter occurred in August 1944, the pieve of Santa Maria Assunta rises in an isolated position, turning its back to the road, its front overlooking the crag at whose foothills the stream Vezza flows.
In the edifice, subsequent work stages may be identified, revealing the ever-increasing importance of the area in medieval and post-medieval times, up to the elevation of the church to the rank of pieve in 1652. Built as a single-nave edifice on the model of the pieve of Valdicastello, to which the church was originally subordinate, it was completed by aisles and adjacent rooms through the centuries; the back of the building was changed and the bell tower was built over again many times, yet preserving an overall harmony that has kept the interest and the evocative power of the place intact.

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Location

Dating

12th century

How to get there

In auto e moto
Autostrada A12 Genova-Livorno. Uscita Versilia. Prendere la Via Apua in direzione Pietrasanta. Proseguire in direzione nord-ovest sulla Via Aurelia Nord/SS1 e continuare sulla Via Provinciale Vallecchia/SP8. Svoltare a destra in via Alcide De Gasperi/SP9. Continuare a seguire la SP9 e proseguire sulla Via Stazzema/SP42. Continuare a seguire la SP42 fino a Piazza della Chiesa.

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JOURNEYS THROUGH ROMANESQUE

Versilia itinerary