Pieve di San Leolino

The Pieve di San Leolino stands in the countryside above Panzano in Chianti. Its three-aisled Romanesque structure and works of painting and glazed terracotta preserve the long religious and artistic history of the Chianti landscape.

Why it matters

The church is documented as San Leolino a Flacciano in 982 and later served as a mother church for the surrounding district. The Comunità di San Leolino, a community of priests and lay people, has lived here since 1997.

What to notice

The three naves are divided by stone pillars beneath timber roof trusses. The portico is a sixteenth-century addition. Among the works inside are a thirteenth-century dossal attributed to Meliore di Jacopo, a triptych attributed to Mariotto di Nardo, a Baptism of Christ attributed to Raffaellino del Garbo, and glazed terracotta tabernacles attributed to Giovanni della Robbia.

Context and history

The pieve's origins are sometimes placed around 900, while its documentary record begins in 982. In 1508 its patronage passed to the Florentine hospital of Santa Maria Nuova. Eighteenth-century alterations changed the interior; a restoration in 1942 brought the Romanesque stonework back into view. The site continues to unite religious life and cultural activity.