Church of the Santo Sepolcro

Chiesa del Santo Sepolcro (M. Del Rosso, Comune di Pisa)

The building, founded by the Hospitaller Knights of St. John of Jerusalem in the twelfth century, apperas to be slightly buried due to the elevations of the road surface in recent centuries. The octagonal-plan church ends at the top by a spire. The north and south doors have ferrules decorated with a phytomorphic decoration attributed to Rainaldo, master of the façade of the Cathedral. The bust on the façade, made by Santo Varni in 1859, represents Diotisalvi, probable author of the entire building. The Bell tower is contemporary with the construction of the church, but was never finished. Inside, the building presents a splendid octagonal ambulatory made even more impressive by the large pointed arches on which single lancet windows open. There is also a small stone well, used by Santa Ubaldesca, according to local tradition. The fifteenth-century table of the Madonna with Child is attributed to Benozzo Gozzoli. The Venetian-style floor shows a large tombstone of Maria Mancini Colonna, grandson of Cardinal Mazzarino.

History in a nutshell: the church was founded by the Hospitallers around 1113, although the first mention is from 1138. Adjacent to it was a small hospital, partly still visible. On the bell tower an inscription, huius operis fabricator/deus te salvet nominatur, reveals that its possible architect was Diotisalvi (architect of the Baptistery of Pisa). In the 16th century, the external perimeter was surrounded by a sandstone porch, removed in the nineteenth century. The church was the seat of the priory of the Knights of Malta (the palace in Lungarno Galilei still shows its large coat of arms).