Diecimo e la Valle del Celetra

The Church of S. Giusto and S. Clemente have undergone several reconstructions which have cancelled a good part of its antique origins, remaining visible only in the current structure of the old building. The bell tower is older than the church, but restructured after the earthquake of 7th September 1920, unfortunately it has lost its old architectural features. In front of the church there is a wide gallery, leaning on terracotta arches. Inside, a single aisle in a pleasing and harmonious Baroque style, you can find one of the oldest model finds of the territory: a slab in bas-relief of the 9th century, pertaining to the original church. The craftsmanship of the slab with its turbinal decoration and inlay on two levels, contributes to its inclusion in the genre “Barbarian” decorative sculpture. At the bottom of the aisle, placed inside two niches, the wooden set of the Annunciation and the Angel, attributed to the sculptor Piero D’Angelo (4th century), show ties with the sculptural tradition of Andrea Pisano along with the interest for late Gothic Florentine painting. Notable among the works of art, the painting of the Sacred Heart of Our Lady by Pompeo Batoni 18th century and in the choir, the painting of Our Lady with Child and Saint Clement, Lucia, Giusto, Caterina d’Alessandria by the painter Antonio Luchi (18th cent.). At about 4 km from Partigliano, in Locality Guazzanello, the ancient Hermitage dedicated to San Nicolao dates back to the 12th-13th century. Its Romanesque style is similar to many other isolated structures found in the woods of the Serchio Valley.

The village is crossed by the road that links Borgo a Mozzano with Versilia by the Pass of S. Graziano, where among chestnut and pine trees you can spot a little old chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Snow. The most important building is represented by the Medieval bell tower decorated with battlements, at its foot there is the Church of S. Prospero with adjoining presbytery which houses important works of art among which 17th-century paintings, a parish silver cross of the 15th century recently restored and precious church furniture.

On the outskirts of the village you can find the Church of San Donato dating back to the second half of the 12th century. Here you can see the attempt to recuperate the stylistic forms of the Classical Age. The church has a single aisle with one semicircular apse divided by pillars in white limestone using a building technique of square conches, with no decorative elements. The apse is the exception, decorated, with open pillars and three single lancet windows, featuring a dichromatic façade obtained by alternating limestone with a thick edging of sandstone and grey limestone. The bell tower is of post-Medieval period and is in an isolated position with respect to the church, today, the road actually separates the two buildings. The Church of San Lorenzo, the present parish Church, is situated in an isolated position. Like the Church of San Donato, that shares with San Lorenzo the nickname the “Romanesque Twins”, was built as it stands today in the course of the 12th century. Unlike its “twin”, the Church of San Lorenzo has undergone various reconstructions, starting from the loss of the apse: the last substantial intervention was the extension work carried out in 1890. Today the church has a single nave with a rectilinear end at the front, where the building structure of the original square conches is still clear, entry is by a simple portal with monolithic doorposts and a Greek cross at the top.

The Parish Church of San Pietro, despite having been restructured, dates back to the end of the 9th century and the beginning of the 12th century and represents an example, as well as other churches in the Lucchesia, of the diffusion of town architecture in rural areas. The façade framed between 2 angular pillars is divided into two parts by a string course frame and is distinctive in its harmony and simplicity. In the interior, a painting of San Rocco by Antonio Luchi known as the “Diecimino” (17th century), an Assumption of the 17th century anonymous and a painting representing Our Lady with St. Francis and St Anthony (1716).
Of particular interest is the Liberty theatre, opened in 1913, built by the citizens who had emigrated to America, who dedicated it to “Christopher Columbus”. The building of the theatre can be included in the relevant building and urban initiatives carried out in Valdottavo in the first years of the 1900s and considered of great value. This aspect is typical of buildings in Liberty style of the Province of Lucca, the “returning emigrants” often felt the need to give concrete and long-lasting expressiveness of their work and cultural experiences abroad and sometimes decided to show off their wealth and prosperity achieved by having lavish buildings constructed.

At the mouth of the Valley of the Torrent Pedogna there is the parish, founded by San Frediano in the 6th century and called S. Maria Assunta (Our Lady of the Assumption). The parish was first mentioned in 919 by the name of Our Lady and Ginesio, then in 979 by Our Lady and Giovanni Battista; however because of the age of the settlement and its dedication to Our Lady, common in the early Christian era, it can be considered, according to some authors, among one of the oldest parishes of the diocese. Its development must have taken place between the 10th and 11th century, possibly in connection with the settlement of the Episcopal feud. This parish with a nave and two aisles and an immense apse represents one of the greatest and well-preserved examples of Romanesque ecclesiastical architecture in the Lucca area. The plain and regular façade is owed to the wall surface of large limestone blocks. Of great interest are the zoomorphic and geometric figures which ornate the apse, over and above the plant shoot upheld by human figures chiseled on the architrave of the main portal mostly attributed to Biduino. The bell tower which was also used as a prison, inspired by Lombard-Lucchese models on open levels, (larger openings at the top than the bottom) with no sculptural decorations on the brackets, is considered one of the most stunning in the Province. Inside you can find remains of the Medieval carved furniture (12th-13th century) attributed to the craftsmanship of Guidetto, the remains of the pulpit documented by two precious groups of lions with prey, one portrayed in the action of devouring a dragon, the other represented while fighting a warrior who is stabbing him in the throat. Belonging to the old structure, destroyed in 1675, is the figure of Isaiah currently visible along the right wall of the church and other architectural decorative elements housed in the church and in the rectory. Still attributed to the same craftsman, the hexagonal baptismal font. Notable, a particularly different slab representing the profile of a warrior on horseback. A large smooth shield, decorated with a little rose in the middle, covers nearly all the body of the man, leaving uncovered the small head, part of the tunic and his foot held in the stirrup. Because of the vagueness of his works, it is impossible to give a reliable explanation on the identity of the man who in the popular tradition was called “Re Pipino”. In the village you can admire the square with the tower of “Castruccio” and the house where St Giovanni Leonardi was born.