The oldest and best known church in Chianni is certainly the Church of San Donato, first mentioned in 1275 in a document of the bishop of Volterra. At that time, it was an ancient country parish church, outside the castle walls, because it was meant to serve the surrounding populations. The parish probably ended up being ruined and sacked, until it was completely destroyed.
The title was transferred to the church in the village, located at the highest point and above a high rocky base, so that several steps had to be climbed to reach it. The building was completely rebuilt in 1812, carving the apse out of a castle tower and enlarging the pre-existing church. The interior has a single nave with four chapels. In the centre of the apse stands the majestic high altar, dating from the end of the 17th century, made of precious polychrome Carrara marble and brought here in 1812 from the destroyed collegiate church of San Pietro in Massa.
The beautiful old bells still mark the chimes of the hours and the highlights of the day: the midday peal was used to mark the middle of the day, ‘l’or di notte’, at dusk, marked the end of the working day and drew the farmers from the countryside. The apse, frescoed by Antonio Gaioni in 1964, depicts Christ between Saints Donatus, Maura, Francis, Catherine, Linus and Dominic. The altar boys in the fresco bear the faces of the children of Chianni who actually served mass at that time.
In a chapel to the left of the altar is the Holy Family by Giovanni Battista Tempesti, a leading exponent of Baroque and Rococo art. In the chapel to the right of the altar is the Madonna of the Rosary, attributed to Aurelio Lomi.