Parish Church of Santo Stefano and San Giovanni Battista - The Parish Church

The parish church of Camaiore stands on a slight hill on the right of the ancient Via Francigena (coming from Lucca). It is a Romanesque church, one of the five parish churches of ancient Versilia and the mother church of the entire Camaiore area. Its jurisdiction extended throughout the area between the plebania (district) of San Pantaleone a Elici and Santa Felicita a Valdicastello. Originally it was dedicated solely to Santo Stefano, while starting from the 9th century the name of San Giovanni Battista was added, as for all the parish churches. At the same time it was endowed with the privilege of the baptismal font and the cemetery. Since 934 it has also been dedicated to Santa Maria. It was once the point of reference for all the churches and oratories that began to arise in Camaiore and the surrounding area starting from the Lombard era. The parish church, in fact, was the only one to possess and exercise parish rights, the only one with the privilege of celebrating baptisms and funerals and of collecting tithes. All the other churches were nothing more than 'ecclesiae subiectae' (dependent churches).

HISTORY

The parish church is mentioned for the first time in a document from 817, in which some assets of the 'Ecclesie S. Stefani in loco Campo Maiore' were granted by Bishop Jacopo to a certain Gastaldulo. Judging by its possessions, however, the church must have existed for some time, at least since the end of the 8th century. According to a tradition, the church was built in the 6th century and was one of the twenty-eight parish churches built by San Frediano, Bishop of Lucca, but this hypothesis is not very reliable. The title of parish church ('plebs') was associated for the first time with the church of Santo Stefano in a document from 820. The Piviere of Camaiore, or the group of churches dependent on the Pieve, covered the current towns of Casoli, Metato, Lombrici, Vado (Gello), Camaiore, Nocchi, Gombitelli, Torcigliano, Montemagno, Pontemazzori, Marignana, Bargecchia (and Conca), Corsanico, Mommio and Pedona. The prestige of the parishes was not only religious, but also economic: with the intent of ensuring a place in the afterlife, lay owners, but also the king himself, donated real estate to the parishes. With the foundation of the Church of Santa Maria Assunta di Camaiore in 1255, the Pieve lost part of its status, although the Estimate of 1260 is evidence of a still substantial patrimony. The importance of the Pieve was, however, destined to decline, especially starting from 1387 when the Church of Santa Maria Assunta was endowed with the privilege of the Baptismal Font. The decline continued inexorably in the following centuries. With the Council of Trent (1545-1568), finally, the decline of the pievi was sanctioned in favor of the parishes.

The building has a Latin cross plan with a façade facing west and an apse to the east. On the outside it has a salient façade (with a double slope) in squared stone with a seventeenth-century portal and, above, the statue of the Virgin, a mullioned window and a Greek cross with openwork. Traces of the ancient portal are easily identifiable in the wall, of which on the right you can recognize a part of the round arch and a capital from the thirteenth century. From the counter-façade it is also possible to establish that the oldest portal was composed of two arches with a central column. Near the apse stands the bell tower, of a square shape, with four orders of mullioned and single-lancet windows and four pinnacles on the top. The Pieve di Santo Stefano has undergone numerous expansions and modifications over the years from the twelfth to the nineteenth century. During the nineteenth-century works, in addition to the mosaic floor, the arms of the pseudo-transept were inserted which gave the building the shape of a cross. Finally, in 1938, with a philological restoration work, the church was given back part of its original appearance. The façade was reformulated, the stone inside was exposed by removing the plaster and the external buildings leaning against the building were demolished. The interior is divided into three naves - with five bays each - marked by rectangular pillars with round arches and single-lancet windows. The facings are in exposed squared stone, while the roof is trestle-like. The floor - not original - has geometric mosaic designs in coloured marble. The presbytery area with balustrade and altar is raised four steps above the floor of the church. Three single-lancet windows open onto the apse. The two side chapels with small apses are Baroque additions that contrast with the simplicity of the building. As soon as you enter, on the right you can see the 'Baptismal Font': a Roman sarcophagus in Lunense marble. According to Bianco Bianchi (1464-1541), a doctor, philosopher and chronicler from Camaiore, it came from Lombrici and was brought to the Pieve to make a baptismal font, in which all those born in the valley were baptized until 1387. Originally, the sarcophagus would have served as a burial urn for the ashes of Lucio Imbricio, civis romanus, who gave his name to the town of Lombrici. It is not certain that this character actually existed, but what can be said without a doubt is that the sarcophagus was intended to be the tomb of an illustrious person. On the front of the sarcophagus, there is a series of friezes and sculptures in bas-relief of fine workmanship. In the center, inside a tondo, there is the cloaked bust of the deceased whose face is illegible. Supporting the tondo are two funeral Genii covered in draped robes. At their feet, two masks represent life according to Roman funerary symbolism. The bas-relief is completed by two putti on each side, accompanied by baskets of flowers, grapes, olive branches, farmyard animals, a dog and sheep. Scenes of rural life such as the grape harvest and fruit picking are depicted on the sides of the sarcophagus and the relief is less protruding than the central scene. The work can be dated to the 3rd century AD and was created by an unknown local artist. The back of the sarcophagus is not visible, as it is leaning against the wall of the church. To the left of the main altar is the 15th-century triptych 'Madonna Enthroned with Child and Saints'. Signed by Battista da Pisa, it was created for the prior Nuto. Worthy of note are the 17th-century Crucifix of local manufacture and the small tabernacle for the holy oil, which is placed to the right of the apse and is from the 15th-century school.