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Cathedral
of Pietrasanta
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The
mother church of Pietrasanta, also known as "Collegiata di
San Martino di Pietrasanta", impresses with its white facade
of pure marble. It originated in the 13th century, well before
1223, the year in which it was first known about its existence.
The structure has three naves, two side aisles and a
central one with a central marble rose window. |
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 The
style is Romanesque-Renaissance. Of the three portals, you will see the
three lunettes carved in bas-relief with scenes of the passion of Christ
(Crossfission, Deposition Resurrection). The side wall is also sculpted,
the scene depicted is linked to St. John the Baptist and is by
Bonuccio Pardini. Other bas-reliefs can also be seen on the façade,
including the emblem of the city, the various dominations that followed
in time and a papal coat of arms. It is the coat of arms of Leone X,
which we remember, was the son of Lorenzo de' Medici, a pleasant
artistic carving by Donato Benti, renowned Florentine sculptor of
the
Renaissance.
 The
interior is majestic and refined. The style that stands out today
is the Baroque style of the first decades of the seventeenth century,
when the Grand Duchess Cristina of Lorraine (who was consort of
the Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinand I de' Medici and grandson of
the maternal part of Caterina de' Medici and Henry II of Valois,
king of France) ordered the renovation of the building. Note the
marble altars and confessionals, originally from the time.
 Caterina
had a noble soul, she was a lover of science (a great friend of
Galileo Galilei and Antonio Santucci) and the arts, and she
called to work some of the greatest Florentine devotional painting
artists of her time, such as Matteo Rosselli, Francesco
Curradi and Jacopo Vignali, joined by the painters Pietro
Dandini, Bastiano Bitozzi, Jacopo Chiavistelli, who
also worked alongside him. The great Crucifix of the apse is due
to the latter. In addition to the previous Renaissance sculptors,
including Donato Benti and Lorenzo Stagi (in the sixteenth century)
later joined Luigi Ademollo (in the nineteenth century) already author
of the splendid large hall of the Doge's Palace in Lucca as "Salone
dell' Ademollo".
The main attraction of the church are two chapels: in the Chapel of
the Blessed Sacrament there is a fourteenth-century wooden Crucifix;
in another, the Chapel of the Madonna del Sole, patron saint of
Pietrasanta, there is the painting of the same name, from the fifteenth
century, which is exhibited to the public only during a few holidays.
Cathedral of Pietrasanta
Cathedral Square
Opening hours to the public:
Every day from 8.00 a. m. to 12.30 p. m. and from 3.30 to 6.00
p. m. (19.00 p. m. in summer, check the timetables anyway)
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Ostelli Pietrasanta Ostelli Italia
Auberges de Jeunesse Italie
Hotel Pietrasanta
Carte de Pietrasanta
Karte von Pietrasanta Mapa Pietrasanta
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