San Martino, Pietrasanta

Last updated
The Cathedral Church of St Martin, Pietrasanta The Cathedral Church of St Martin, Pietrasanta.jpg
The Cathedral Church of St Martin, Pietrasanta
Interior, St Martin's Cathedral, Pietrasanta Interior, St Martin's Cathedral, Pietrasanta.jpg
Interior, St Martin's Cathedral, Pietrasanta
Interior of the dome, Pietrasanta Cathedral Interior of the dome, Pietrasanta Cathedral.jpg
Interior of the dome, Pietrasanta Cathedral
Apse and crucifix at Pietrasanta Cathedral Apse and crucifix at Pietrasanta Cathedral.jpg
Apse and crucifix at Pietrasanta Cathedral

The Collegiate Church of San Martino (Italian : Collegiata di San Martino; Duomo di Pietrasanta) is a collegiate church in Pietrasanta, in the region of Tuscany, Italy. It is the main church or duomo of the town. It is first mentioned in 1223, and was subsequently enlarged in 1330 and in 1387 when Pope Urban VI had a baptismal font installed in the church. [1]

Contents

Exterior

The façade is covered with white marble. Over the three portals are lunettes with scenes of the Life of Christ. On the right transept is another portal with St. John the Baptist, a 14th-century work by Bonuccio Pardini. The coat of arms on the main façade is a memory of the Genoese and Florentine dominations, but there is also one of Pope Leo X. The marble rose window is attributed to Riccomanno Riccomanni (14th century).

The 36 m-tall bell tower has square layout, and remains unclad and in brick, originally it was meant be covered with marble facing. It was finished in the late 15th-early 16th centuries by the Florentine architect Donato Benti. In the interior is a curious helicoidal staircase.

The baptistery (1786) was originally a 17th-century oratory dedicated to St. Hyacinth. It contains two baptismal fonts from 1385 and 1612.

The nave. Pietrasanta dom innen kirchenschiff.jpg
The nave.

The Piazza in front of the Cathedral has various monuments including a statue depicting Grand Duke Leopold, the Hapsburg ruler of Tuscany, sculpted by Vincenzo Santini. There is also a marble column of the Marzocco (The seated lion symbolizing Florence), celebrating the re-acquisition in 1513 of the town by Florence. The fountains on surrounding walls are also known as the Fontana del Marzocco.

Interior

The church is on the Latin cross plan with a nave, two aisles and a transept. Much of the decoration dates from the reign of Christina, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, who in 1627 commissioned the restoration of the Collegiata to Florentine artists, who provided large devotional altarpieces and sculptures. The tribune has frescoes (1496) by Antonio di Francesco Cosi and by Ciampanti from Lucca. Other artists include painters Matteo Rosselli, Francesco Curradi, Jacopo Vignali, Pietro Dandini, Bastiano Bitozzi, Jacopo Chiavistelli, and Alessandro Cominotti, and the sculptors Giovan Battista Stagi, Stagio Stagi and Ferdinando Tacca.

The marble pulpit is instead from 1508, by Benti and Lorenzo Stagi. The dome was originally octagonal (1453), but was rebuilt on circular plan in 1820. The ceiling of the dome was frescoed with a depiction of the Last Judgement (1823-1825) by Luigi Ademollo. [2]

In the right transept chapel is the venerated relic of the Madonna del Sole ("Madonna of the Sun"), a painting from an anonymous Late Gothic artist, dated 1424.

Notes

  1. Versilia official website Archived 2011-07-28 at the Wayback Machine .
  2. La patria; geografia dell' Italia, part. 2. Provincia di Massa e Carrara, Luca, Pisa, Livorno, by Gustavo Strafforello (1896); page 122.

43°58′00″N10°14′00″E / 43.9667°N 10.2333°E / 43.9667; 10.2333

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florence Cathedral</span> Church in Tuscany, Italy

Florence Cathedral, formally the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower, is the cathedral of Florence, Italy. It was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to a design of Arnolfo di Cambio and was structurally completed by 1436, with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi. The exterior of the basilica is faced with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink, bordered by white, and has an elaborate 19th-century Gothic Revival façade by Emilio De Fabris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siena Cathedral</span> Medieval church in Tuscany, Italy

Siena Cathedral is a medieval church in Siena, Italy, dedicated from its earliest days as a Roman Catholic Marian church, and now dedicated to the Assumption of Mary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piazza dei Miracoli</span> Historic architectural complex and UNESCO World Heritage site in Pisa, Italy

The Piazza dei Miracoli, formally known as Piazza del Duomo, is a walled 8.87-hectare (21.9-acre) compound in central Pisa, Tuscany, Italy, recognized as an important center of European medieval art and one of the finest architectural complexes in the world. It was all owned by the Catholic Church and is dominated by four great religious edifices: Pisa Cathedral, the Pisa Baptistery, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and the Camposanto Monumentale. Partly paved and partly grassed, the Piazza dei Miracoli is also the site of the Ospedale Nuovo di Santo Spirito, which now houses the Sinopias Museum and the Cathedral Museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florence Baptistery</span> Baptistery in Florence, Italy

The Florence Baptistery, also known as the Baptistery of Saint John, is a religious building in Florence, Italy, and has the status of a minor basilica. The octagonal baptistery stands in both the Piazza del Duomo and the Piazza San Giovanni, across from Florence Cathedral and the Campanile di Giotto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta, San Gimignano</span> Medieval/Renaissance church with important architecture & art

The Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta or Duomo di San Gimignano is a Roman Catholic collegiate church and minor basilica in San Gimignano, in Tuscany in central Italy. It contains important cycles of Renaissance frescoes by artists including Domenico Ghirlandaio, Benozzo Gozzoli, Taddeo di Bartolo, Lippo Memmi and Bartolo di Fredi. It falls within the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the "Historic Centre of San Gimignano", with its frescoes being described by UNESCO as "works of outstanding beauty".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pietrasanta</span> Comune in Tuscany, Italy

Pietrasanta is a town and comune on the coast of northern Tuscany in Italy, in the province of Lucca. Pietrasanta is part of Versilia, on the last foothills of the Apuan Alps, about 32 kilometres (20 mi) north of Pisa. The town is located 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) off the coast, where the frazione of Marina di Pietrasanta is located.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pisa Cathedral</span> Church in Pisa, Italy

Pisa Cathedral is a medieval Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, in the Piazza dei Miracoli in Pisa, Italy, the oldest of the three structures in the plaza followed by the Pisa Baptistry and the Campanile known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The cathedral is a notable example of Romanesque architecture, in particular the style known as Pisan Romanesque. Consecrated in 1118, it is the seat of the Archbishop of Pisa. Construction began in 1063 and was completed in 1092. Additional enlargements and a new facade were built in the 12th century and the roof was replaced after damage from a fire in 1595.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence</span> Church in Florence

Santa Maria del Carmine is a church of the Carmelite Order, in the Oltrarno district of Florence, in Tuscany, Italy. It is famous as the location of the Brancacci Chapel housing outstanding Renaissance frescoes by Masaccio and Masolino da Panicale, later finished by Filippino Lippi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Maria presso San Celso</span>

Santa Maria dei Miracoli presso San Celso is a church and a sanctuary in Milan, Lombardy, northern Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basilica of San Francesco, Siena</span> Basilica church in Siena, Tuscany, Italy

San Francesco is a basilica church in Siena, Tuscany, Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pistoia Cathedral</span> Roman Catholic cathedral in Pistoia, Tuscany, Italy

Pistoia Cathedral, or Cathedral of Saint Zeno is the main religious building of Pistoia, Tuscany, central Italy, located in the Piazza del Duomo in the centre of the city. It is the seat of the Bishop of Pistoia and is dedicated to Saint Zeno of Verona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arezzo Cathedral</span> Roman Catholic cathedral in Tuscany, Italy

Arezzo Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral in the city of Arezzo in Tuscany, Italy. It is located on the site of a pre-existing Palaeo-Christian church and, perhaps, of the ancient city's acropolis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grosseto Cathedral</span> Church in Tuscany, Italy

Grosseto Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Grosseto, Tuscany, Italy. It is the cathedral of the diocese of Grosseto and is dedicated to Saint Lawrence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Martino, Pisa</span>

San Martino is a Roman Catholic church in Pisa, region of Tuscany, Italy, facing piazza San Martino, on the left bank of the Arno river.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volterra Cathedral</span> Roman Catholic cathedral in Volterra, Italy

Volterra Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Volterra, Italy, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. It is the seat of the bishop of Volterra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Maria in Provenzano, Siena</span>

Santa Maria in Provenzano, or the Insigne Collegiata di Santa Maria in Provenzano, is a late-Renaissance-Baroque style, Roman Catholic, collegiate church in Piazza Provenzano Salvani, in the Terza Camollia, just southwest of the basilica of San Francesco, in the city of Siena, region of Tuscany, Italy. This Marian shrine was built around a 14th-century terracotta icon of the Madonna, which was credited with miracles. The Palio of Siena takes place on the day of veneration of this Marian devotion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Collegiate Church of San Cristoforo, Barga</span>

The Collegiate Church of San Cristoforo, Barga is the main Roman Catholic church of the town of Barga, located in the region of Tuscany, Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macerata Cathedral</span>

Macerata Cathedral is a Renaissance-style, Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to the St Julian in the town of Macerata, province of Macerata, region of Marche, Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Martino a Gangalandi</span> A Roman Catholic parish (pieve) church in the region of Tuscany, Italy

San Martino a Gangalandi is a Roman Catholic parish (pieve) church in the Gangalandi neighborhood of Lastra a Signa in the region of Tuscany, Italy. It is located via Leon Battista Alberti. Adjacent to the church is a small Museo Vicariale displaying some works of art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sant'Andrea a San Donnino</span> Church in Tuscany, Italy

Sant'Andrea a San Donnino is a Roman Catholic parish church in the San Donnino neighborhood of the town limits of Campi Bisenzio, located on the Via Pistoiese just west of Florence, in the region of Tuscany, Italy. Adjacent to the church is a small art Museum.