Pieve di Camaiore
The village of the apartment with under 100 residents is located in the Stefano e Giovanni Camaiore mountains at the foot of Monte Prana in the tuscany. The ancient city takes its name from beautiful romaneque church, one of the five romanesque parishes of versilia, which was originally dedicated to S.Maria and S.Stefano and later S. Giovanni Battista.
A Pieve (Italian obsolete for parish) was in the Middle Ages in rural areas of northern and central Italy a parish and a church with special rights, such as the right to baptism and burial. Only one Pieve had a font and a cemetery. There were these pievi in large numbers, rarely in cities as a competition between the self-sufficient urban population and the feudal bishop’s church.
Pieve is derived from the Latin plebs, plebis. In the history of the Plebeians in the Roman Empire, this term is historically understandable, whereby the Pieve in the sense defined here refers to the plebs rustica, d. H. the working rural population in the vicinity of cities (oppida).
Many documents prove the historical importance of this community. Indeed, his ecclesiastical jurisdiction spanned the entire Camaiore valley and the area as far as Massaros and Pietrasanta.
The church on the old Via Francigena also ran through Badia di Camaiore, not the original structure from the Lombardy period (6th-7th centuries).
Santi Stefano and Giovanni was the first church in the entire Camaiore area, from which Christianity later spread to Camaiore and the surrounding areas. The anniversary of the inauguration is November 14th.
The marble sarcophagus of Roman origin, which today serves as a baptismal font, is therefore of particular interest to visitors. The portal on the right side of the entrance is rare because it is believed to date from the second century.
Ornament of the temple: Madonna and Child with Saints: work by Battista di Gerio from 1418. He was an Italian painter, born in Pisa, who lived between 1414 and 1418 between Pisa and Lucca. His works are late Gothic, but influenced by the new Florentine figurative culture of the early fifteenth century.
The fascinating element is the facade of the church. It was completely renovated in 1600 and offers spectacular views.
The bell tower houses 3 manual bells, cast by the Fratelli Bimbi of Fontanaluccia (MO) in the year 1824. The concert is granted in G3 minor, that is to say that the notes starting from the big one are: Sol3, La3 and Sib3 growing.
The house is a short walk away and the carillon is beautiful.
In the Pieve di Camaiore are two nice restaurants which mainly are open with the full menue in the evening after 7pm:
Ristorante la pieve: Via S. Giovanni Battista 33
Ristorante C´era una volta: Via Santo Stefano 201