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Cathedral of San Martino in Pietrasanta

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Places of worship

An architectural jewel made of marble that preserves important historical works

The Cathedral of San Martino in the heart of Pietrasanta is an architectural jewel made of marble and is part of the convent complex of St. Agostino. Its foundation dates back to the constitution of Pietrasanta (aproximately in 1225), it was then renewed in the 14th century when the splendid marble façade was realized, with four smooth pillars, the arches with a sharp acute and, in the center, the large richly decorated rosette.

Above the three doors, some bas-reliefs represent the Crucifixion, the Deposition and the Resurrection, while the small bas-reliefs on the façade depict a coat-of-arms of the town and the symbols of Genoa and Florence past domination over Pietrasanta.

Pietrasanta Cathedral
Pietrasanta Cathedral - Credit: milopagliarino

The interior, with three aisles, preserves important works of art, including the Marble Pulpit, made in the seventeenth century, the case with relief figures attributed to Donato Benti and the pedestal attributed to Lorenzo Stagi.

Not forgetting the 14th century wooden crucifix and a late 19th-century Gothic-style opera: the painting of the Madonna del Sole, patron saint of the town, highly valued by the inhabitants of Pietrasanta, that expose it only during festivities in his honor.

Stairs inside the tower of the Cathedral
Stairs inside the tower of the Cathedral - Credit: Duomo di Pietrasanta

On the iridescent marble aspect of the Church, the high bell tower dominates with its red bricks, started at the end of the XV century and never finished. The bare aspect owing to the lack of marble, hides instead a real masterpiece: an extraordinary helicoidal staircase that runs up and that in summer becomes the backgroung of many interesting art exhibitions.