Pieve

In Italy in the Middle Ages, a pieve (Italian pronunciation:, Corsican:; Latin: plebe; pl.: pievi) was a rural church with a baptistery, which governed smaller churches in the district. Pieve is also an Italian and Corsican term signifying the medieval ecclesiastical/administrative territory of its the mother church. It has thus become a common component of both place names and of the names of churches.

The Italian word pieve is descended from Latinplebs 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. The term plebs was first used to refer to churches in this context near the end of the seventh century.

In the 9th-10th centuries, pievi were often designed with bell towers.