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In the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
, a pieve (, ; la, plebe, link=no; plural ''pievi'') was a rural church with a
baptistery In Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned structure surrounding the baptism ...
, upon which other churches without baptisteries depended. The Italian word ''pieve'' is descended from
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
''
plebs In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called plebs) were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words " commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Etymology The precise origins ...
'' which, after the expansion of Christianity in Italy, was applied to the community of baptized people. Many ''pievi'' began to appear in the 5th century, as Christianity expanded in the rural areas outside the main cities. In the 9th-10th centuries, they were often designed with
bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tow ...
s.


See also

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List of pievi {{short description, None A pieve is an Italian and Corsican term signifying a medieval ecclesiastical/administrative territory and, by extension, the mother church of the territory. It has thus become a common component of place names and of the n ...
Church architecture Architecture in Italy Catholic Church in Italy {{Church-architecture-stub