San Pietro ("St. Peter") is a Roman Catholic church in

Porto Venere Porto Venere (; until 1991 ''Portovenere''; lij, Pòrtivene) is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) located on the Ligurian coast of Italy in the province of La Spezia. It comprises the three villages of Fezzano, Le Grazie and Porto Venere, and ...

province of La Spezia A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

, northern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, facing the Gulf of Poets. The Church was built upon an ancient Pagan Temple.

History and description

It was officially consecrated in 1198. The part in white and black bands dating from the 13th century (probably made between 1256 and 1277), and was restored between 1931 and 1935. This part was derived from an older body, which consists of the early church, but left the bell tower is based on the chapel left of the presbytery. The original church dates from the 5th century, in Syriac type, with rectangular plan and semicircular apse. It lost the title of parish in the late 14th century, in favor of the Church of San Lorenzo. It was officiated by the secular clergy until 1798.

Literary references

The poet

Eugenio Montale Eugenio Montale (; 12 October 1896 – 12 September 1981) was an Italian poet, prose writer, editor and translator, and recipient of the 1975 Nobel Prize in Literature. Life and works Early years Montale was born in Genoa. His family were che ...

dedicated a poem to the church.

Gallery

File:Portovenere panorama scale.jpg, The Church of St. Peter and the Spallanzani square File:Seascape - PortoVenere (Italy).jpg, Setting on the Sea File:San Pietro (Porto Venere) - Interior 1.jpg, Inside the Church File:Church San Pietro (Porto Venere) - Arcades 1.jpg, Arcades of the Church File:Sayonara Zio.JPG , The Church kept from a boat

References

{{coord, 44, 02, 54, N, 9, 49, 57, E, source:kolossus-itwiki, display=title Churches in the province of La Spezia