Attractions

Pontedera | Sanctuary of the Holy Crucifix

The Sanctuary is located in today’s Piazza Curtatone, close to Palazzo Pretorio. Its construction dates back to the 13th century, although the church underwent numerous transformations from 1633 until the heavy bombing during World War II, which also destroyed the bell tower. It was rebuilt in the 1950s with the addition of the new bell tower.

The outer right side still retains terracotta and stone decorations from the medieval layout, as well as five square windows in pietra serena. The same stone is found in the large tympanum of the façade, where two plaques dating back to 1347-1348 testify to the construction of the ‘Castle of the Bridge to Era’. The single-nave interior features six side altars in pietra serena and is enriched by important works of art, including the wooden sculpture of the Annunziata (attributed to the school of Nino Pisano, 14th century), the detached fresco ‘Madonna del Carmine’ by Turino Vanni and a Madonna among Saints by Cigoli (1595).

On the high altar is a 19th-century silver tabernacle, commissioned to house the 16th-century wooden ‘Crucifix’, believed to be miraculous, having escaped a fire and become an object of worship in the 16th century.

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