Badia di Camaiore – Wikipedia

The Badia di San Pietro It is a Catholic abbey dating back to the seventh century, in the municipality of Camaiore, in the province of Lucca, within the territory of the parish of Santa Maria Assunta, ^[first] belonging to the Archdiocese of Lucca.

The first two documents that mention it date back to the year 761, during the Lombard domination when the Duchy of Lucca was the capital of Tuscany.

In the following centuries, the abbey became an important complex consisting of the church, the bell tower, the arch, the cemetery and a monastery surrounded by crenellated walls.

At the beginning of the twelfth century it reached her maximum splendor. The abbot had the function of episcopal and civil manager under the protection of the Holy See. Both for the granting of the countess Matilde of Canossa, and for the initiatives of the monks themselves, the primitive church, which was built in a single nave with the floor on a top and a stone altar, underwent a profound transformation in the twelfth century assuming assuming The definitive architectural aspect. The two lateral naves were added, the pediment, the apse and the riding riding riding.

The monastic complex in the first half of the thirteenth century was granted to the monks of the Florense order founded by Gioacchino da Fiore ^[2] .

The abbey was sacked and burned, together with the town of Camaiore, twice: the first, in 1315 by Castruccio Antelminelli and the second in 1329 by Marco Visconti ^{[ Which? ]} .

External [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

The entrance arch enters the square in front of the church, now a grassy lawn (Benedictine cemetery suppressed for several centuries) and is the only rest of the crenellated walls of the thirteenth century. In the past it was the main access to Badia. Entirely built in stone, it was recently restored by preserving its spontaneous simplicity.

The Romanesque church is characterized by a wall paramento entirely in square stones. The facade is in salient, according to the heights of the three internal naves. At the bottom in the center, the only portal surmounted by a marble coat of arms and a bezel sheltered by a pitched roof. Inside the round of all sixth there is a polychrome fresco depicting the Madonna on the throne with the child between two saints . Above the portal, there is a mullioned window supported by a marble column with sculpted capital.

Along the left side of the church there is, near the apsidal area, the bell tower. Square -plan, it has a crowning with Ghibellini Merli. On each of the four sides there are three orders of windows, from the bottom monofor, mullioned window and triphor. Inside there are four bells intoned in lesser Lab3, merged by Lucchese Lorenzo Lera.

Internal [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

The church has a basilica plant inside, with three naves covered with wooden trusses and divided by two rows of round arches leaning on quadrangular pillars. Along the walls, various single lamps open that ensure the natural lighting of the Church.

The central nave ends with a slightly minor semicircular apse and height. The presbyteral area is raised by some steps compared to the rest of the church and was completely redone later by the Second Vatican Council. In an advanced position, on the left, there is the carved wooden ambo, while in the center there is the most modern altar, with the presidential seat behind it, consisting of wooden scraps decorated with motifs with arches. Above the altar, he hangs from the ceiling a Crucifix painting.

Among the works kept within the church, there are the copy of a polyptych by Francesco Anguilla, now in the Museum of Sacred Art of Camaiore, ^[3] depicting the Madonna on the throne with the child between Saints (15th century). The fresco with the fresco with Santa Maria Egyptian , on the first left pillar, and the Madonna della Pietà , on the second left pillar, inserted inside a rich baroque marble altar.

Pipe organ [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

At the bottom of the side nave on the right, resting on the wall, there is the organ with Mascioni Canne opus 1130 , built in 1995. ^[4]

The instrument is in full mechanical transmission. Its console is in window and is located at the center of the prospectus. It has three keyboards of 54 notes each and a straight pedal of 30 notes. The registers are operated by knobs on two groups of two rows each on the sides of the keyboards.

The organ is enclosed within a wooden case with the form of parallelepiped. The facade is characterized by the exhibition, consisting of main canes with mouths A matri ; These are arranged in cusp with lateral wings in multiple fields, on the sides and above the console.

• Almerico Guerra, The SS. Virgin of Pietà that is venerated in the Badia Church of s. Pietro near Camaiore – Historical notes , Lucca, Archiepiscopal Typography San Paolino, 1895, BNI 1895 7486.
• Piazza dinelli, History of Camaiore from the pre -Roman era to the early sixteenth century , Camaiore, Typography Pardini, 1971, ISBN not existing.
• Lorenzo Ghielmi, An organ for Bach’s music: the Mascioni organ op. 1130 of the Badia di Camaiore , in Organ information N ° 1, 1996, ISBN not existing.
• Tuscany. Guide of Italy (Red Guide) , Milan, Italian Touring Club, 2003, ISBN not existing.