Menu :

Histoire

Personnages

Nature

Itinéraires par région

Along the road leading to the Pieve of Brancoli, the small church of San Lorenzo strikes one’s attention for its bell tower, resting on an arcade through which the ancient road network once ran.

Along the road leading to the Pieve of Brancoli, the small church of San Lorenzo strikes one’s attention for its bell tower, resting on an arcade through which the ancient road network once ran. Built in the 12th century by subsequent groups of workers, as confirmed by the variety of its masonry, the edifice appears nonetheless homogeneous in its plain medieval structure: a single-nave plan with semicircular apse, common to many Romanesque churches found in the surrounding countryside. The S. Lorenzo is a single-hall church, with semicircular apse and gable roof supported by wooden trusses. The masonry of the bell tower, set against the northern side of the church and resting upon a high arcade, is similar to that of the wall supporting it. The masonry is made in squared, white and grey limestone ashlars, revealing a pseudoisodomic technique in parts of the sides and the façade, entirely made in grey limestone. In the apse and some parts of the sides, this type of masonry alternates with the filaretto technique, presenting squared stones laid in ordered rows of irregular height. The apse is crowned by a series of monolithic, double-splayed small arches. The church was first reported in an estimate of 1260 as subordinate to the church of San Giusto di Brancoli, in the pieve of San Giorgio, yet its construction dates back to the 12th century. A multi-decennial work, it was carried out by different workers in time, as shown by the variety of masonry types, probably owing to the economic difficulties faced by the small community living close to the church. Until the beginning of the 18th century, it was provided with a cemetery, but since then, burials were restricted to the church interior and only for inhabitants of adjacent houses. In 1956, the church of S. Lorenzo underwent restoration works aimed at consolidating its structures.

Lucca

Accessibilité :

:

Contact :