San Paolo all'Orto is a Romanesque-style, former

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church in

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

, region of

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

, Italy.

History

Documented from 1086, it was a priory from the 12th to the 15th centuries, held by Augustinian nuns. The church is now unconsecrated and used for cultural events. The façade has the typical Pisane stripes of bichrome marble stones, and is articulated in five arcades with lozenges,

intarsia Intarsia is a form of wood inlaying that is similar to marquetry. The practice dates from before the seventh century AD. The technique inserts sections of wood (at times with contrasting ivory or bone, or mother-of-pearl) within the solid wood ...

s and capitals sculpted by Biduino (late 12th century). The bell tower, which was rebuilt several times, dates to the 17th century.Pisa Tourism Office
entry on church. The interior has a nave and two aisles, and had once an

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

destroyed in the 15th century. It houses remains of frescoes and

sinopia Sinopia (also known as sinoper, named after the now Turkish city Sinop, Turkey, Sinop) is a dark reddish-brown natural earth pigment, whose reddish colour comes from hematite, a dehydrated form of iron oxide. It was widely used in Classical A ...

s from the 12th-13th centuries; the fresco and stucco decoration is from the 18th century.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paolo All'orto Roman Catholic churches in Pisa Romanesque architecture in Pisa 12th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy