Parish Church of San Leonardo in Treponzio
At the foot of Monte Pisano, in the Compitese area, among the many charming villages along the way is San Leonardo in Treponzio. The toponym Treponzio (from the Latin thripuntio), first appearing in a document from 757, was used to mean "the place of the three bridges" or simply "between the bridges."
STREET ADDRESS: Via del Borgo, San Leonardo in Treponzio (Capannori)
Somewhat hidden among the stone houses and narrow streets, but still easy to find, stands the Romanesque church of San Leonardo in Treponzio, a small jewel of medieval architecture.
It already existed in 1115 and had an ancient hospital next to it to assist wayfarers and pilgrims travelling along the important roads that ran alongside Lake Sesto, which was reclaimed in the 19th century.
Built in the Lucca Romanesque style, oriented according to tradition from east to west, it has a single nave, a semicircular apse, and a gabled roof with wooden and brick trusses. The church is constructed with stone blocks from the nearby Guamo area.
Above the entrance portal of the façade is a fine white marble frieze decorated with a vegetal swirl of leaves, among which emerges the figure of a mermaid (symbolizing the pleasures of earthly life). The ends are embellished with two sculptures in the shape of heads, one human and the other animal (symbolizing intellect and ferocity). Inside the archivolt, a bas-relief depicting the wheel of life and three pinwheels completes this rich allegorical representation of human existence.
The south side of the church also features an interesting portal with white limestone capitals and a lunette punctuated by alternating ashlars of local stone and white marble. On this side, the four single-lancet windows decorated with small human heads are striking.
Opposite, in the small, welcoming green space where the cemetery once stood, is a basin that was originally used as a baptismal font; to its right is the 1849 bell tower.
Romanesque Itinerary
The church is a stop on a Romanesque itinerary in the Upper Tyrrhenian area, between Italy and France.
Nature, historical, and cultural trails that pass through small hilltop villages and rural areas along paths and ancient trails, where you encounter minor religious architecture, churches, basilicas, parish churches, and chapels waiting to be rediscovered.