Location Signano, Fivizzano MS, Italy

Parish of S.M. Assunta di Pognana

tel. 0585 984102

Traditionally called "Pieve" the Chapel of Santa Maria Assunta of Pognana is first mentioned in Lothair's Diploma of 1137 and became an autonomous parish before 1568. After the 1920 earthquake, the church was restored to its primitive Romanesque style. Inside you can see interesting capitals carved with plant and animal motifs and geometric plays

(bibliography: "From Luni to Massa Carrara - Pontremoli, the becoming of a diocese between Tuscany and Liguria from the 4th to the 21st century."-wikipedia)

Locality Montefiore, 37, Casola in Lunigiana

Parish S. PIETRO di OFFIANO

Mentioned in a document by Pope Eyugenius III in 1148 the Pieve di San Pietro di Offiano is likely much older , as can be inferred from the structure of nearby settlements tracing earlier prehistoric settlements and the presence of ancient transhumance routes on which a Roman road was grafted. Archaeological excavations revealed the structure Romanesque origin with three apses a sandstone, while the walls were white limestone.. In the 15th century a baptismal font was placed, which is now preserved in the Casola museum. In the 18th century it was transformed into Baroque forms as we see it today. On the facade is a marble fragment that appears to depict a pilgrim

(bibliography: "From Luni to Massa Carrara - Pontremoli, the becoming of a diocese between Tuscany and Liguria from the 4th to the 21st century" - wikipedia)

Località S. Paolo Pieve, 23, Pieve San Paolo - Fivizzano

St. Paul Parish of VENDASO

The parish church of San Paolo is located a short distance from the Borgo di Vendaso, in the municipality of Fivizzano, along the road that passed through today's Passo dell'Ospedalaccio on its way to Parma and Reggio. The earliest evidence of the parish is given by a bull of Pope Eugene III dated November 11, 1148. It has three apses made of sandstone, while the rest of the structure or consisting of white limestone elements. The church, restored after the 1920 earthquake, has capitals inside characterized by phytomorphic elements, concentric circles, intertwining, animals and enigmatic figures.

(bibliography: "From Luni to Massa Carrara - Pontremoli, the becoming of a diocese between Tuscany and Liguria from the 4th to the 21st century" - web- rete toscana .it -wikipedia)

Via Crespiano, 25, Comano MS, Italy

Parish CRESPIANO S. MARIA ASSUNTA

The diocese of Luni had in this territory the parish church of Crespiano, restored several times, with a beautiful rectory house attached and an important bell tower, dating from the sec. XI. On the second floor of this tower-according to a usage of the time-a small room was intended to house a chapel, of which the small apse with its single-lancet window remains. It was probably at the time of the bell tower's construction that an important and very rare epigraph dated 1079, now kept in the sacristy, dates back. Documents of this kind are very rare; the plaque was originally on the outside and was intended to remind posterity of the great undertaking of the restoration and perhaps the construction of the bell tower, but also - proudly - the name of its author: "In the year of the Incarnation of the Lord 1079, when this church was restored, Master Oto made me."

Taken from "Lunigiana Quality 2007," text by Riccardo Boggi

(Photo by Davide Papalini

Via della Garfagnana, 13, - Codiponte (Casola in Lunigiana)

Parish of SS. CORNELIO AND CIPRIANO

The parish church of Codiponte, in the municipality of Casola in Lunigiana, is among the most fascinating and artistically rich in the territory of the ancient Diocese of Luni; with its figured capitals, its austere and balanced form, and its artistic masterpieces, it is a true paradigm of Lunigiana Romanesque architecture. The pieve stands on the right bank of the Aulella, near a bridge beyond which the ruins of the 11th-century castle of the Bianchi d'Erberia can be seen in the distance. We are in an area rich in prehistoric finds and stele statues, a strategic area of passage as the place name also testifies. Along this road axis the Romans connected Luni with Lucca and, further north, with Veleia and Piacenza.

While excavations in the area have revealed on the same site where the pieve stands today traces of Ligurian (7th S. B.C.) and Roman frequentation, the earliest documentary mention is pre-Carolingian (793); this historical phase is evidenced by the octagonal baptismal font base from the 8th century, which shows that the church was already baptismal before it became a pieve.
Mentioned several times in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, in the late Middle Ages and in the post-medieval and modern ages the pieve played a central function in the religious organization of the upper Aulella valley. Mentioned in the Decimes of the late 13th century and in the Estimi of 1470-71 it extended its cope from Vinca to Spicciano in the Lucido, Aulella and Rosaro valleys.

The church has a three-aisle basilica plan with perfectly preserved columns and round arches and notched cubic capitals bearing figures typical of the medieval image system. Symbolic images with didactic, didactic, and theological significance that unfold a rich repertoire: palmettes, tree of life, lily, six-petaled daisy; telamon, praying man, man blowing two horns, rampant beasts, camel, birds, snake with feet, bicauded siren.

The roof is trussed, redecorated in the 1900s; a monolithic medieval baptismal font with a cross and figures of children in swaddling clothes carved in bas-relief on the base are visible in the south aisle. Also on the south side, outside, is a beautiful portal with medieval symbols, probably the original portal of the parish, later disassembled and reassembled in a different position.

Also of interest is the late medieval triptych with the Virgin Enthroned, Sts. Cornelius and Cyprian titulars of the church, and the image of the Holy Face, a famous and revered Lucchese relic, which reminds us of the passage, in these very places, of the Way of the Holy Face.

The church, remodeled and decorated from the 1500s onward, was restored to bare stone in the late 1800s and restored again in the early 1970s when archaeological tests were also conducted, giving us the most information about the site. At this stage the minor apse was completely reconstructed.

The bell tower, once to the left of the chancel (where the base remains), was rebuilt in 1778.

(From Francesco Bola: Tourism in Lunigiana https://turismoinlunigiana.it/scheda/pieve-di-codiponte/)

Borgo di S. Maria, 12, 54023 Filattiera
Tel: 0187-458378

The parish church of Santo Stefano di Sorano in Filattiera is one of the most important Romanesque parish churches in the province of Massa Carrara. It stands in a strategic area, frequented since prehistoric times (as many as seven stele statues have been found in the area) and still preserves its 12th-century layout, a Romanesque architectural masterpiece, with an imposing apsidal system made entirely of unhewn sandstone pebbles. Inside the parish church, which has been fully restored, numerous medieval elements are preserved as well as two original stele statues (Soran I and Soran V).

The area where the pieve stands has been frequented since prehistoric times, as evidenced by the 7 stele statues found in the surrounding area and numerous Iron Age finds. After the Roman phase, evidenced by the presence of a recently archaeologically investigated "mansio," Filattiera was an important Byzantine military settlement, Before the present parish church there must have been another early medieval church (8th-9th century) from which the Epigraph of Leodegar (752 AD.C.) today in the church of San Giorgio within the village.
The Romanesque parish church was built between the 11th and 12th centuries as part of the ecclesiasitic reorganization of the Diocese of Luni, of which this church represents perhaps the most important dependency in Lunigiana. The parish church of S. Stefano di Sorano is mentioned from the 11th century onward in all the main documents related to the Diocese of Luni and experienced its heyday until the 14th century, when it began to be abandoned and was gradually transformed into a cemetery chapel.

The present appearance is the result of an extensive restoration completed in 2000, which restored the original appearance. The entire building is built with a very special technique, with unsquared river pebbles put in place with abundant mortar.
The plan is basilical with three naves, without a transept, with the nave larger than the other two and the chancel slightly elevated. On the façade can be seen the polylobate Rosette and some openings plugged in the masonry. On the left inner counterfaçade, in the corner, are the stele statues Soranus I and Soranus V, found in the area of the church: the Soranus V was reused as the lintel of a small entrance opened in the façade and later plugged.

The interior is sober, severe, dimly lit, with large double-arched arches resting on round pillars with very short incised capitals. A few eighteenth-century masonry arches inserted between Romanesque ones remain on the left side.
The decoration and symbolism are kept to a minimum, however, there are some interesting images, particularly the monstrous figure present in the upper part of the nave on the left side.
The most architecturally interesting part of the parish from the point are certainly the three apses, made with architectural decoration on different levels of depth. In the upper part of the major apse, traces of some small figured half-capitals can be seen.
The bell tower, perhaps born as a defensive structure, is connected to the church but represents a separate element.

A few meters from the parish church, heading north, now stands the Sorano Educational Center, home to an area equipped for excavation exercises, educational lectures on archaeology, conferences and conventions.

(From Francesco Bola: Tourism in Lunigiana https://turismoinlunigiana.it/scheda/pieve-di-sorano/)