Chiesa di Santa Caterina

On rising ground where Sarzana's old Borgo di Santa Caterina met the Cisa road stands the single-aisle parish church of Santa Caterina. Its paintings include a copy by Domenico Fiasella after Andrea del Sarto, a Visitation by Giovanni Battista Casoni and a seventeenth-century Genoese Noli me tangere.

Why it matters

Santa Caterina began as a hamlet of Sarzana and later became an independent vicaria. The church took shape over generations: the parish history places its construction around the mid-seventeenth century, while the broader architectural record spans a longer period of building and alteration. Its history links the town's northern quarter with the religious life of the surrounding countryside.

What to notice

The church has a sober, single-aisle interior whose interest lies in its paintings. Domenico Fiasella's Virgin and Saints is a copy after Andrea del Sarto; the original is now in the Pinacoteca of Berlin. Giovanni Battista Casoni painted the seventeenth-century Visitation. A Noli me tangere is attributed to a seventeenth-century Genoese painter. Together, the works connect this parish with the artistic networks of Sarzana and Genoa.

Context and history

Santa Caterina was once a hamlet of Sarzana and shared the city's fortunes before becoming detached. The parish became an independent vicaria in 1798, though its first stable vicar arrived in 1838. Built around the mid-seventeenth century and enlarged and restored later, the church served the northern entrance to the city along the road toward the Cisa Pass. Its feast day, 25 November, honours Saint Catherine.