The village with castle and ancient parish church of Fabbrica is located on a hill to the right of the river Era. It was one of the castles under the political jurisdiction of Pisa mentioned several times in deeds from 1284 onwards and ruled by the powerful Caetani family, to whom we owe the construction of the castle with four corner towers and central keep, later demolished by the Florentines.
Over the centuries, the noble families of the Gaetani, the Riccardi and the Gaddi alternated, who in 1685 dismantled the fortress to build new houses and their palace, on the façade of which two inscriptions by the poet Giovan Battista Ricciardi were placed to recall the fortress’s historical events.
At present, only a few remains of the walls are visible, incorporated into recent dwellings, such as the Torrino or the Villa Rosselli Del Turco.
Of particular note is the Parish Church of Santa Maria Assunta, which dates back to the 12th century and is an example of Romanesque architecture. The building has undergone many renovations over the centuries, including the old bell tower, which was demolished in the mid-19th century. On the façade are walled-in decorative elements and arches, an architrave with hunting scenes and a depiction from the Longobard era. The interior of the church has three naves, divided by columns and pillars, and three apses. It preserves valuable furnishings, glazed terracotta sculptures, and the statue of Saint Anthony Abbot attributed to Luca Della Robbia.
Outside the village, the Chapel of St Roch houses the terracotta group depicting the Madonna in the act of suckling the Child (15th century). The altarpiece depicts on the lower right a saint in the act of striking himself with a stone as a sign of penitence, while on the left a kneeling saint wrapped in a large cloak covering her head is not clearly identifiable. The church is also home to ‘Rovo’, one of Voci’s sound installations, a project based on listening to a story that can only take place in a certain place and under certain conditions. These stories are revealed through seven works conceived by Vittorio Corsini and installed inside the Bell Tower of the Church of San Verano, the Church of the Madonna del Carmine and the Church of Serre in Peccioli, in the Church of San Giorgio in Cedri, in the Chapel of Saints Rocco and Sebastian in Fabbrica, in the Oratory of Santissima Annunziata in Ghizzano, and in the Passerotti Cinema in Peccioli.