San Romolo a Gaville, Romanesque pieve in Gaville, Figline e Incisa Valdarno, Italy
San Romolo a Gaville is a church in Figline e Incisa Valdarno whose facade has a central portal with a reinforced arch and a lunette that once held a fresco, now inside. Above is a reopened 20th-century bifora. The tribune shows the apse volume with a cross-shaped window, repeated on the facade. The bell tower stands slightly detached on the left, its lower half older than the church.
The church was founded in 1007 by the Ubertini family and Bishop Raimondo of Fiesole, then grew gradually over decades. It reached its current form around 1070 after a long construction process.
The church is dedicated to Saint Romulus, the first bishop of Fiesole. Its medieval name, in Curtule, recalls an early medieval estate. The village of Gaville, about 600 metres away, was destroyed at the end of the 13th century as revenge for the killing of Francesco de' Cavalcanti, a vendetta Dante mentions in Inferno XXV.
The church stands isolated on open countryside; the village it once served, on a hill about 600 metres away, was destroyed at the end of the 13th century, leaving only the small settlement called Gavillaccio. The bell tower is slightly detached from the left flank of the church, and the lower half of it predates the church itself.
The lower half of the bell tower predates the church itself and may have served as a watchtower. The bells date from 1215, 1620 and 1954; a fourth, cast in 1404, was removed because it was badly cracked and now stands in the cloister of the canonica.
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