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The pieve of S.Verano is sited inside the medieval borough of Peccioli. The castle was owned by members of the Gherardesca household, who remised it to the bishop of Volterra in the 12th century. The construction of the pieve, rising right at the back of the public square hosting the praetorian palace, probably dates back to this phase.

The pieve of S.Verano is sited inside the medieval borough of Peccioli. The castle was owned by members of the Gherardesca household, who remised it to the bishop of Volterra in the 12th century. The construction of the pieve, rising right at the back of the public square hosting the praetorian palace, probably dates back to this phase. The pieve looks onto a terrace offering a bird’s-eye view over Valdera hills. It was built upon a high basement to compensate for the sloping ground. A bell tower built around 1885 by Luigi Bellincioni stands out next to the pieve. Adjacent to the church, a Museum of Sacred Art hosts precious paintings, processional crosses and sacred fittings. Built upon a high basement, the edifice plan includes three naves, today without apse. Romanesque features are hardly detectable on the façade, marked by pilasters and lozenge decorations made in local sandstone, strongly subjected to wind erosion and, hence, frequently needing to be replaced. A string-course divides the main elevation in two horizontal courses. The lower one is marked by five blind arcades supported by pilasters of rectangular section. A moulded lozenge adorns each arcade. The main door opens on the central, raised arcade. The upper course of the façade, marked by pilasters, shows a mullioned window and lozenge decorations. The right side presents a portal in pietra serena, a single-light, pointed-arch window and a rectangular window. A set of semicircular lunettes appears on the upper course, probably made during 19th-century works. The interior is divided into three naves and six bays, resting on five supports, i.e. four brickwork columns on stone capitals replaced in the 19th century and, in the presbyterial area, on a pier of square section, against which a few semi-columns are set, surmounted by Ionic capitals. Only a little documentary information is available with regard to the medieval construction of the pieve of Peccioli. Neither clients, nor architects or households are known to have taken part to this event. The medieval building reflected the layout of a three-nave edifice, with an apse that was later demolished. At the end of the 16th century, the Romanesque plan of the pieve was modified by the opening of two side chapels on the left side, dedicated to the Holy Sacrament and to the Virgin of the Assumption. Precious artistic evidence dates back to the 12th century, when the present structure was built. Conserved at the Museum of Sacred Art housed inside the Chapel of the Assumption, it includes a noteworthy Virgin with Child called ‘Madonna delle Grazie’, attributed to Enrico di Tedice and datable from the first half of the 13th century. A Virgin with Saints, by Neri di Bicci, dates back to 1464. The most significant work involving the pieve was certainly the building of the neo-Gothic bell tower, which completely changed the visible horizon of the village. A bell tower built around 1885 by Luigi Bellincioni stands out next to the pieve. The architect-engineer from Pontedera designed a pyramidal cusp of unusual shape, which aroused lots of controversy at the time. The intervention did not match the Romanesque style of the pieve and it is said that the parishioners had to sell their fur coats to finance the works: this is why the bell tower was nicknamed ‘the campanile of furs’.

Peccioli

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