Pieve di San Leolino, Romanesque pieve in Rignano sull'Arno, Italy

The Pieve di San Leolino in Rignano sull'Arno has a basilical plan with three semicircular apses and two bays near the presbytery in exposed stonework of pietraforte and alberese laid in regular courses. The front section, plastered and divided by pillars supporting arches, results from a 17th-century transformation that lowered and shortened it. The bell tower beside the right apse has a lower shaft from an earlier phase and an upper bell chamber rebuilt in 1883.

The pieve is first documented in August 1008 as "plebe Sancti Leolini sito Ringnano", one of the fifteen earliest pievi of the Diocese of Fiesole, and the building dates to the late 10th century. It stood on a diversion of the Cassia vetus built in 59 BC, and by the 12th century had a chapter of canons with eight dependent parish churches. Landslip from the hill above caused structural problems from the 15th century; after 1960 the pieve was abandoned, and a citizens' committee restored it, reopening it on 3 June 2000.

The name San Leolino refers to an early saint whose cult is very old. From the 12th century the pieve had a chapter of canons, and eight parish churches depended on it; Santa Maria was added only in 1302. In the 18th century the left nave served as the oratory of the Compagnia della Natività di Maria, the right one as a kitchen and farm shed.

The pieve stands outside Rignano sull'Arno, on the road that was the Roman Cassia vetus, later the Setteponti road, and it is reached by country roads rather than the town centre. The building was abandoned in 1960 and only reopened on 3 June 2000 after a full restoration that also repaired its structural problems, so check opening arrangements before setting out.

The lower part of the bell tower may predate the church itself, possibly reusing an earlier tower; the arched bell cell was added in the 1883 restoration, since in 1851 the tower was still described as "a ventola".