Saint Mary of the Assumption in Villa Basilica

Piazza Vittorio Veneto, 19, 55019 Villa Basilica LU

The building preserves its XII^th century structure with a single apse and three aisles divided by a double series of seven columns with sculpted capitals showing animals and floral designs. The crypt under the presbytery shows at least two phases of construction, the first of which prior to the XII century. In the XII-XIII^th centuries a bell tower was built on the south-west corner of the building with a technique similar to that of the church, i.e. using large ashlars of so called 'macigno' sandstone, a material commonly found in the Villa Basilica region. In the Late Middle Ages a passage between the church and the newly built rectory was opened.
The latest restorations were carried out in the XX^th century: among the most important we remember the one undergone under the direction of Francesco Martini when ashlars on north side of the church, façade and apse were replaced.
The first mention of a church dedicated to Santa Maria in the village of Villa Basilica dates back to Carolingian times, though we know for sure that it had become a parish church only in 1014.