Basilica di San Piero a Grado

The Basilica of San Piero a Grado stands near the former coastline of Pisa, where worship is documented from the fourth century. Local tradition holds that St Peter landed here in 44 AD and raised an altar; the present Romanesque basilica took shape between the tenth and twelfth centuries.

Why it matters

San Piero a Grado preserves both the religious history and the changing landscape of Pisa’s coast. Excavations beneath the church reveal earlier places of worship, while its Romanesque structure and medieval frescoes reflect the site’s importance as a place of pilgrimage.

What to notice

The church has an unusual profile: the façade was destroyed in the twelfth century and an apse now occupies its place. Blind arches decorate the exterior, where ceramic basins once formed a distinctive feature; the 64 original basins are now in Pisa’s Museo Nazionale di San Matteo. Inside, two rows of twelve columns divide the three-aisled space. The central nave’s early fourteenth-century fresco cycle, painted by Deodato Orlandi, unfolds in three bands: a gallery of popes below, scenes from the lives of Peter, Paul, Clement and Sylvester, and the Heavenly City above. The sequence is read from the right of the high altar.

Context and history

Archaeological remains beneath the altar include a fifth-century single-apse church and an eighth-century church with three apses. Under the Gothic ciborium stands the column associated by tradition with Peter’s altar. The western bell tower was destroyed during the Second World War; a replacement was begun after the war but left unfinished.