San Giovanni Battista e S. Stefano, Romanesque parish church in Camaiore, Italy

San Giovanni Battista e S. Stefano is a parish church in the hamlet of Pieve, Camaiore, given its 12th-century form after a purist restoration in 1930 that incorporated parts of a 10th-century building. The 17th-century portal partly covers traces of an earlier asymmetrical double opening. The bell tower holds three manual bells cast in 1824 by the Fratelli Bimbi of Fontanaluccia, tuned in G minor.

The pieve is first documented in a bishop's parchment of 817. It was rebuilt in the 12th century, incorporating parts of a 10th-century structure, and a purist restoration in 1930 returned it to that medieval appearance. It was the mother church of the whole Camaiore area, from which Christianity spread to the town and neighbouring districts.

The church was the mother church of the whole Camaiore area, the first from which Christianity spread to the town and neighbouring zones. Its dedication anniversary is still remembered on 14 November. Inside stands a baptismal font cut from a 2nd-3rd century sarcophagus, and a triptych signed and dated 1418 by Battista di Gerio.

You can visit the church throughout the year to explore its Romanesque architecture and interior spaces. Be respectful during prayer times if you plan to walk through while services are taking place.

The baptismal font is a reworked Roman sarcophagus from the 2nd–3rd century, and the triptych of the Madonna and Child with saints is signed and dated 1418 by Battista di Gerio, a late Gothic painter influenced by Starnina. The bell tower holds three manual bells cast in 1824 by the Fratelli Bimbi of Fontanaluccia, tuned to G3, A3 and B-flat 3.