Saint Michele of Castiglione Garfagnana

55033 Castiglione di Garfagnana LU

The village of Castiglione is known since the early Middle Ages; however, the earliest information we have about the church of San Michele dates back to the XII^th century. The church was built near the Lucchese castle of Castiglione Garfagnana, following the political and demographic growth of the village. The building that can be seen today, with a Latin cross plan, one aisle and a semicircular apse, is of this period. For the façade two-coloured stone was used and this confers it a particular decoration. The entrance portal, besides a two-coloured decoration, also has consoles and the lintel of its arch shows floral motifs and plants; the same decoration can be seen on the northern portal. In the modern age the building was adapted to the new aesthetic and liturgical canons; as a consequence, three big square windows were opened on the sides, the apse was reconstructed in a polygonal form and new altars, together with a vestry, were added. The most important changes, however, were made in the XVIII^th century when an atrium, supported by two neoclassic columns with Corinthian capitals, was built against the façade. The church is mentioned for the first time in a Papal bull of 1168 together with a list of chapels dependant from the pieve of Fosciana.