Itinera Romanica+/north

Thanks to the itineraries mapped and promoted by the Itinera Romanica + project, you can follow paths that lead to the discovery of the minor Romanesque heritage spread throughout the region. The journey cannot ignore the significant remains found in northwestern Tuscany, more specifically the area that descends from Versilia, crossing the Brancoleria, towards the Lucca plain.

The Via Francigena also provided a strong impetus to the development of important towns and numerous places of worship along these routes. Precisely for this reason, Alta Versilia, Brancoleria, and the Lucca area are rich in parish churches characterized by Romanesque origins and styles. One example is the Parish Church of San Giorgio a Brancoli, located between the hills leading to the Pizzorne plateau and the final stretches of the Serchio Valley: the imposing bell tower stands sentinel over the building, with its medieval architectural features; while the three naves house the splendid Ambo depicting Madilde di Canossa, the richly decorated Baptismal Font, and the glazed terracotta attributed to Della Robbia.

Not far away, in the same direction, is the small church of San Lorenzo, built in the 12th century, which is striking for its unusual bell tower set on an arch used as a passageway. The Pieve di Santo Stefano, in the same century, in the town of the same name a few kilometers from Lucca, dominates the hills covered in vineyards, olive groves, and woods.