Pieve di Santo Stefano a Vallecchia

The Pieve of Santo Stefano a Vallecchia is a Romanesque parish church near Pietrasanta, with an early medieval origin and later furnishings spanning several centuries.

Why it matters

As a pieve, Santo Stefano served as a mother church for the surrounding rural territory. Its successive building phases and furnishings preserve a long record of religious life in Versilia.

What to notice

The church retains a three-nave plan divided by pillars and columns with Romanesque capitals. A fourteenth-century Madonna and Child stands in a niche, while a sixteenth-century crucifix and seventeenth-century furnishings reflect later devotional phases. The marble pulpit, sculpted by Andrea Baratta in 1681, is a Baroque work within the older church.

Context and history

A church at Vallecchia is documented in the eighth century, and the present structure reflects rebuilding and enlargement over the following centuries. The building is associated with Romanesque work around the eleventh and twelfth centuries; it was consecrated in 1058 by Anselmo da Baggio, the future Pope Alexander II. The interior was altered in the seventeenth century, and later repairs followed earthquake damage. The parish now belongs to the Archdiocese of Pisa.