The name apparently derives from a Roman commander, ‘Scianus’, who is said to have camped here. In the Middle Ages, it was a large castle, thanks to the protection of the Badia di Morrona. The ancient configuration is still recognisable from the linear development of the urban layout, with the apse of the present Church of the Nativity carved out of the ancient keep. The locality is mentioned for the first time in a document dated 1099 in which its feudal lord ceded all his rights to the Hospital of San Frediano in Pisa. It subsequently passed under Florence, becoming part of the Vicariate of Valdera. It was here that Pier Capponi met his death in 1496 during a siege of the castle.<\/p>\n\n
Soiana boasted five Romanesque churches at that time. Today, the only one remaining is that of San Michele, whose foundations date back to the 13th century and which was believed to house a mysterious crypt that has never been found.<\/p>\n\n
The Church of the Nativity or of the Company (as it was run by the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament) has ancient origins that unfortunately cannot be documented. It has undergone restoration work on its furnishings and architectural layout.<\/p>\n\n
The construction of the new Church of St Andrew, starting in 1852 after the earthquake a few years earlier had almost destroyed the pre-existing 13th-century church, was completed at the same time as work on its massive bell tower designed by Pontedera architect Luigi Bellincioni. \nThe interior, with a single hall, has a sober appearance with two simple wall altars: the one on the right houses the Madonna of the Rosary, while the one in front has a painting of Saints John the Baptist and Andrew, as well as a statue of Saint Lucy. The apse was recently frescoed with Scenes from the Gospel of St John by Paolo Graziani (1994). The white marble baptismal font is complemented by a fresco depicting the Baptism of Jesus. Worth noting is the large organ from 1862 by the Nicomede Agati company.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":16716,"parent":0,"template":"","tipo-attrazione":[],"filter-who":[],"filter-time":[],"class_list":["post-52475","attrazione","type-attrazione","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"wpml_current_locale":"en_US","wpml_translations":[{"locale":"it_IT","id":49266,"post_title":"Terricciola | Soiana","href":"https:\/\/www.terredipisa.it\/terricciola-borgo-di-soiana\/"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.terredipisa.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/attrazione\/52475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.terredipisa.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/attrazione"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.terredipisa.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/attrazione"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.terredipisa.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.terredipisa.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"tipo-attrazione","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.terredipisa.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tipo-attrazione?post=52475"},{"taxonomy":"filter-who","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.terredipisa.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/filter-who?post=52475"},{"taxonomy":"filter-time","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.terredipisa.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/filter-time?post=52475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}