NIGEL'S RAMBLES: Down a country lane in Chianti to Gropina

Friday, December 23, 2022

Down a country lane in Chianti to Gropina

I came across the Pieve di Gropina, near Arezzo in Tuscany, in a book about Romanesque architecture in Tuscany. The church, particularly pulpit looked like it was worth seeing.

I was nearby for work in Florence, and so, when I had finished, I drove half an hour down the Autostrada and another half hour down ever smaller roads to Gropina, which lies at the end of a single-track lane. Today it is a tiny hamlet that surrounds the old church, but once it was an important staging post along an Etruscan, Roman and then finally a Medieval road.

The church dates from the twelfth century, with mid Romanesque column capitals on the right-hand side and late Romanesque, almost Gothic additions on the left-hand side columns. Curiously the two rows of columns in the nave are not aligned. The Pieve was possessed by the Abbey of Nonantola, near Modena and this is reflected in the Architecture which in a style usually associated with Lombardy.

The isolated position seems to have saved it from later alterations. I find the pulpit breath takingly beautiful, especially the semi abstract angel carving and the cuddly lion, representing Saint Mark.

The village have made a nice web site about this place which goes into great detail about its history.

There is a wonderful silent atmosphere in this place.