Piazza del Duomo

Pietrasanta's principal square gathers the town's identity in a single view: the marble facade of the Duomo di San Martino, the Gothic lines of Sant'Agostino, the Teatro Comunale, and contemporary sculpture that keeps this medieval civic centre in conversation with living artists.

Why it matters

Pietrasanta is known as Piccola Atene, the little Athens, for the concentration of sculptors and workshops in this small medieval town. Piazza del Duomo brings together the collegiate church of San Martino, the former Augustinian church of Sant'Agostino and the municipal theatre. The square took shape with the town around 1225 and continues to host monumental contemporary sculpture. Its setting connects the history of marble working with the town's present-day artistic life.

What to notice

The cathedral has an articulated marble facade, with four smooth pillars, pointed arches and a decorated central rose window. Bas-reliefs above its three portals show the Crucifixion, Deposition and Resurrection, alongside the town's coat of arms and the emblems of Genoa and Florence. Beside it, the bell tower remains unfinished: begun in red brick in the late fifteenth century, it never received the planned marble cladding. Its helicoidal staircase is used as a backdrop for summer art exhibitions.

Sant'Agostino, in its fourteenth-century Gothic form, now houses the Museo dei Bozzetti Pierluigi Gherardi. Its collection of around seven hundred plaster models records the preliminary work behind monuments by Italian and international sculptors. The Teatro Comunale completes the civic frame. Large-scale sculpture appears on the square's paving, while nearby Piazzetta del Centauro extends the open-air display with its white marble furnishings.

Context and history

Pietrasanta was founded in the thirteenth century; the cathedral's origins date to the town's constitution around 1225, followed by major enlargement in the next century. The square has served as a ceremonial and market place. The marble economy of the nearby Apuan Alps drew sculptors such as Fernando Botero and Igor Mitoraj to the town, where permanent works by both artists form part of its public sculpture. Pietrasanta also lies on stage twenty-six of the Via Francigena. Its medieval plan and contemporary art scene continue to shape the town together.