San Pier Maggiore is an originally 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

Pistoia Pistoia (; ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of a province of the same name, located about north-west of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno. It is a typic ...

, 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 Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. The church is notable for polychrome decorations that partially decorate the ground floor of the exterior, similar to that see in the church San Giovanni Fuorcivitas.

History

A church here was putatively erected circa 798 by a Lombard patron, by the name of either Ratperto di Guinichisio or Retnato di Guillichisio. It came to be under the ownership of an order of

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

nuns, and later Franciscans. In underwent a few expansions and refurbishment, a major restoration in 1263, from when the Romanesque exterior derives. The central portal's

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; , also called an epistyle; ) is the lintel or beam, typically made of wood or stone, that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can also apply to all sides, including the vertical members, ...

is attributed to the workshop of

Guido da Como Guido is a given name. It has been a male first name in Italy, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Argentina, the Low Countries, Scandinavia, Spain, Portugal and Latin America, as well as other places with migration from those. Regarding origins, there ...

, and depicts a "Jesus Giving the Keys to St Peter, with the Virgin and the Apostles". The façade has maintained the original Romanesque appearance, and, like the nearby church of

San Bartolomeo in Pantano San Bartolomeo in Pantano is a Romanesque architecture, Romanesque and Gothic architecture, Gothic style, Roman Catholic church in Pistoia, Tuscany, central Italy, dedicated to St. Bartholomew the Apostle. The ''wiktionary:pantano, pantano'' of t ...

, is divided into five compartments with bichrome decoration. In 1640, under Jesuit ownership, the interior was largely restored and enriched with Baroque-style decorations. Today the church is deconsecrated, the interior artwork has been moved, and the former convent now houses a State Institute of Arts, the ''Liceo Artistico Petrocchi''. In the

matronaeum A triforium is an interior gallery, opening onto the tall central space of a building at an upper level. In a church, it opens onto the nave from above the side aisles; it may occur at the level of the clerestory windows, or it may be locate ...

are exhibited work by the Pistoiese sculptor

Andrea Lippi Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that ref ...

. Of historical interest is that a newly appointed bishop to Pistoia, arriving to town via Porta Lucchese, in a ceremony in this church, would have a mystical marriage to the abbess of the Benedictine convent, and then move to the cathedral to take his post.F. Tolomei, page 59-60.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pier Maggiore Pistoia 8th-century churches in Italy 11th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy 12th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy 13th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Pier Maggiore Romanesque architecture in Pistoia Buildings and structures completed in 1263 Churches completed in the 1260s Buildings and structures completed in 1124 Churches completed in the 1120s