Pieve di San Martino

Audio description

We are just outside what was once the Castle—the original settlement—on the northern edge of the Marciolame district. According to tradition, the parish church of San Martino in Alpe was founded around the year 1000 on the ruins of a pre-existing Roman temple dedicated to the goddess Diana. In the rectory, in fact, several archaeological finds discovered on site and in the surrounding area are preserved. Originally built in the Romanesque style, the church was significantly altered by repeated collapses, restorations, and modifications, eventually becoming an elegant Late Renaissance building with clear Tuscan influences. It is mentioned for the first time in a papal bull issued in 1124 by Pope Callistus II, when it was under the authority of the Abbey of San Benedetto in Alpe. The most recent major restoration followed the 1918 earthquake and took place between 1933 and 1944. In 1936 the façade was redesigned with four gables, three rose windows, and two side portals, and a new square bell tower with a spire was added to replace the previous, very heavy bell gable. San Martino is the patron saint of Premilcuore.