Church of San Michele Arcangelo and Hospital in Camaiore

The church of San Michele (and the hospital connected to it) is located in what was the original centre of the village of Campus Maior, which already in the 10th century was an important stop along the Via Francigena between the ancient Roman colonies of Lucca and Luni.

The structure of San Michele corresponds to that of the simple Tuscan parish churches: it has a single hall with a sloping roof and an apse that emphasizes the high altar. The facing, in stone blocks, is visible both outside and inside. During the Second World War, in 1944, the church of San Michele Arcangelo unfortunately suffered a bombing that caused its destruction. The building still exists today in the faithful reconstruction made immediately after the terrible accident.

The Hospital associated with the church, instead, has a double order of four arches from the 17th century and today houses the Museum of Sacred Art of Camaiore. Of particular interest is the door on the right of the building, because above it is one of the four Names of Jesus with the thaumaturgical monogram that reports the date of 1631, the year in which the plague arrived in Lucca. Camaiore was the only city to remain immune and this miracle was motivated by the promise made by San Bernardino two centuries earlier (1424-1428). The Name of Jesus, today located at the entrance to the Museum of Sacred Art, was once located in Via Cafaggio at number 24. The other three remaining monograms are located in Via Verdina at number 25, in Via IV Novembre at number 128 (in front of the church of Santa Croce) and in Via XX Settembre at number 124. They all bear the same inscription: 'LIBERA NOS PROPTER NOMEN TUUM DOMINE MDCXXXI' (Deliver us through your name, O Lord 1631).

A stratigraphic excavation carried out by the Museo Civico Archeologico between 2008 and 2009 revealed the presence, in Piazza Francigena, of a religious building dating back to the end of the 9th century AD, but not attested by documents. The location of the church was slightly different from that of the next one, dedicated to San Michele, being more shifted towards the side of the square that hosts Palazzo Tori-Massoni. The external area of the church along the wall and near the apse was used as a cemetery: the burials were dug in narrow and shallow pits in a short period of time, parallel and superimposed on each other. At the beginning of the 11th century the building was abandoned and around the middle of the 12th century the few walls still standing were dismantled to reuse the stones in the foundation work, in the immediately adjacent space, of the new church dedicated to San Michele Arcangelo. The cemetery area, on the other hand, was expanded by also occupying the space of the previous church and remained in use until the second half of the 15th century. While previously it was mainly a burial place for newborns, children and adolescents, later the majority of the deceased were adults. Furthermore, tombs of wayfarers and pilgrims who had been hospitalized at the Hospital were also found there.

As for the church of San Michele Arcangelo, the first written attestation of the building dates back to 1180, the year in which the presence of a chapel dedicated to the saint, already present and very active in the area, is undoubtedly attested. In the document, dated precisely to 28 April 1180, Pope Alexander III welcomed the monastery of San Pietro (Badia) under apostolic protection and confirmed its properties: «in Campo Maiore capellam Sancti Michaellis et capellam Sancti Bartholomei, ecclesiam Sancti Vincenti cum hospitali et omnibus pertinentiis suis…». Another passage in the document suggests that San Michele had been dependent on the monastery of San Pietro for a long time. As for the Hospital of San Michele di Camaiore, it is mentioned in a document dated 27 September 1262, more precisely the founding act of the Hospital of San Luca della Misericordia in Lucca, to which it is associated. For the 14th century, the testimonies are limited to a single news item dated 1382. The recorded event is a pastoral visit made by Bishop Antonio to the churches of Santo Stefano, Santa Maria and San Michele. With regard to the latter, there is also mention of the presence of an annexed hospital, which would have been partly in front of the church and partly 'ad essa coniunctus'. Some documents from slightly later testify to the flourishing of the Hospital of San Michele in Camaiore and its connection with that of San Luca della Misericordia in Lucca. In 1467, a new visit by the bishop is recorded, who was particularly impressed by the organization of the hospital and praised the care that was reserved even for strangers, who were 'treated like local people'. The importance of the hospital showed no signs of declining even at the beginning of the 16th century and, indeed, continued to strengthen as the testimonies within the funds of the 'Suppressed Religious Corporations' recall. The hospital was no longer just a reference structure for the territory of Camaiore, but for the entire Lucca area. A terrilogio (a term used in the Tuscan-Lucca area for 'land registry') from 1525, moreover, provides detailed information on the substantial properties of the structure. A new visit by the bishop is recorded in 1559 and states that the hospital hosted 'the poor and pilgrims' and in this regard he states: 'They have six cubicula with mattresses and sacks and the person in charge is Magdalena di Blasi, a baker from Camaiore, a woman of good condition and good life. The prior is Gerino di Camaiore, the chamberlain Lucenzio di Francesco di Florentino di Camaiore'. The decline of the hospital began to manifest itself in the following years.

Moving on to the 19th century, in 1807 Felice I, Prince of Lucca, approved 'the active and passive status of the Company of San Michele Arcangelo of Camaiore, which entered the parish of San Pietro alla Badia in 1300, ignoring the precise date of its foundation, which was certainly very ancient', reiterating the company's duties: to carry out works of charity and piety, to assist the poor and to receive travellers and the sick in the small hospital near the church.

As we can discern from what has been said so far, the complex of the church of San Michele Arcangelo and the Hospital annexed to it played a fundamental role within the territory of Camaiore, in particular for its connection with the flow of pilgrims who passed through the city passing through the Via Francigena. The life, the splendor and the decadence of the church and the hospital are closely linked to it, the beating heart of the Middle Ages, which for centuries have helped and cared for wayfarers and guarded their bodies in the unfortunate event that death came.