Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

If historically the territory of Lido di Camaiore was called 'Litus Maris' and was devoid of human settlements because it was marshy and unhealthy, only at the beginning of the twentieth century did the Municipality of Camaiore build the first roads of via del Fortino and viale Colombo on which the first hotels and bathing establishments could be established, already frequented by artists and intellectuals between the twenties and forties of the last century. However, the place had a real tourist 'boom' after the Second World War, a period in which there was a great building expansion with the increase in the settled population, which led in 1953 to the erection of the parish of the Sacred Heart, detaching it from that of Capezzano and in the early sixties to the construction of the place of worship according to the demands of the modern movement, which enhances the expressiveness of exposed reinforced concrete and the revisitation of traditional elements, such as stone facings. The building, in its composition, is inspired by historicized models declined according to the new language of the time, in fact it starts from the central plan, a basic square from which the corners are 'cut', with semicircular chapels to obtain an octagonal plan. To the latter is added an ambulatory with the positioning, towards the center, of eight pillars that support an octagonal drum on which, however, only a sloping roof is imposed. Even in the composition of the facade one can see the configuration of the Palladian villa La Rotonda, where the pronaos becomes a portico in reinforced concrete and the dome is replaced by a pseudo-tiburium. Finally, the interior also refers to the Brunelleschi language of contrast between the gray of the structural elements and the white of the walls.

Facade
The façade, which consists of a single floor, is completed by a hipped roof, under which, and in the centre, there is a projecting portico of three bays in exposed reinforced concrete. On the sides of the portico, the wall facing is finished with a curtain of rectangular stone blocks, of different sizes, and with large mortar joints that recall Saracen work; in the centre of these parts of the wall, there are rectangular window spaces, with splays finished in plaster, in which the actual windows recall 'single-lancet windows'. In each of the bays of the portico there is an entrance portal, with grey stone frames, surmounted by a religious-themed mosaic effigy and the surrounding wall facing is covered in slabs of light marble.

Prospectuses
The south-west elevation is identical to the façade, while the north-east elevation lacks the projecting portico, has a single entrance in the centre, similar to the others, and the entire curtain wall is finished like the lateral ones of the façade.

Plant
The building has a square plan, with the major axis oriented from the south-east, where there is a square-plan tribune. To the north-west is the main entrance. The interior is divided into a central octagonal hall delineated by pillars, four chapels, placed at the corners of the square base, and finally an ambulatory that is located between the hall, the chapels and the perimeter walls.

Presbytery
The presbytery is housed in the tribune and is raised by one step from the hall.

Structural system
The structural parts of the building are made up of: reinforced concrete pillars and latero-cement floors.

Coverings
The roof covering is made of Marseille-style brick tiles.

Floors and paving
The building is paved in marble.

Decorative elements
The interior of the building is characterized by the chromatic contrast between the reinforced concrete structures, painted gray, and the plastered wall surfaces, painted white. This recalls the Brunelleschi language reinterpreted by the architects of the Italian modern movement; in particular the covering of the octagonal drum that in the intrados evokes an umbrella dome.