Saint Bartolomeo

Borgo a Mozzano, località Cune, Via XX Settembre, 55023 Borgo a Mozzano

The church of San Bartolomeo near Cune, also known as "Romitorio di San Bartolomeo", is a small church with a single nave with an apse similar to many others in the territory of the diocese of Lucca during the 12^th century and particularly similar to that of San Martino in Greppo. The toponym of Cune is instead known since the IX century. The architectural beauty of the small building, compact and of clear proportions, is underlined by the suggestion of the place where it was built, a centuries-old oak forest near the ancient fortress of Bargiglio, demolished in 1373. The original medieval structure had been modified with the addition of a portico, today however eliminated and known only by a drawing made by Giuseppe Matraia for the guide of the city of Lucca and of the countryside that the scholar was preparing towards the middle of the Nineteenth century: the manuscript of the Guide and the drawing of San Bartolomeo are preserved in the State Library of Lucca. The massive bell tower still stands in front of the facade of the church. It was built with more rustic masonry than the one with square blocks, which characterizes the church. Despite the isolation, the inhabitants of Cune continue to feel a particular bond towards their ancient church, where until a few years ago the Mass of the Christmas night continued to be celebrated. In the present parish a wooden statue of St. Bartholomew from the first half of the fourteenth century is conserved, coming from the ancient church dedicated to the saint and worthy of note for the almost perfect preservation of the polychromy of the handicraft. On the base of the statue there is an inscription in apparently illegible form which however tells us the author of the polychromy itself (in the medieval and post-medieval wooden sculpture often the plastic part and the pictorial part were executed by different craftsmen), such "Johannes de Petrasancta" .