Saint Mary of the Assumption of Stazzema

Via Guglielmo Marconi, Stazzema LU

Nothing remains of the Early Medieval building. The church that depended from the pieve of Valdicastello was rebuilt with a single aisle and probably a semicircular apse at the beginning of the XII^th century when the village of Stazzema grew owing to the exploitation of a number of mines in the area. Traces of the original decorations can be seen only on the façade, in particular on the portal and on the central rose window. During the XV^th century two aisles were added to the church and two new entrances were opened. The side walls were pulled down and replaced by two rows of columns. In this period, precisely in 1499, a door connecting presbytery and sacristy was opened. In 1601 an arcade was created along the façade, the apse was completely rebuilt in a rectangular form and the large windows on the south side were opened. Finally, the bell tower as it appears today was rebuilt between 1740 and 1749; at that time two new windows in the apse were also opened.
The church of Santa Maria di Stazzema is first mentioned in historic documents in the IX century.