Oratorio di San Guido

The Oratorio di San Guido is a small chapel at the point where the Viale dei Cipressi leaves the Via Aurelia for Bolgheri. Commissioned by the Della Gherardesca family, the hexagonal temple gives its name to Giosuè Carducci’s poem “Davanti San Guido” and its opening scene.

Why it matters

The chapel is associated with Guido della Gherardesca and stands at the beginning of the cypress avenue made famous by Carducci. It serves as a place of worship within the Diocese of Massa Marittima-Piombino, which holds an annual memorial Mass for San Guido della Gherardesca.

What to notice

The chapel’s compact central-plan design differs from the usual nave-and-aisle form of a country church. Its doorway has a curvilinear pediment and a white marble commemorative plaque. In 1908 Giuseppe Della Gherardesca dedicated a monument to Carducci near the start of the avenue. The poem “Davanti San Guido” opens with the cypresses that run in two rows from San Guido towards Bolgheri.

Context and history

The chapel was commissioned by the Della Gherardesca counts in honour of Guido, their ancestor who was venerated as a saint. The Maremma railway passed nearby from the second half of the nineteenth century, and the modern Aurelia variant now runs close to the site. The 1908 Carducci monument linked the chapel and avenue to the poet’s writing. The oratory remains part of the Catholic parish of Bolgheri.