Santa Maria a Pulicciano

The Church of Santa Maria a Pulicciano stands on a hill overlooking the Ensa valley, a silent witness to centuries of history and faith. Once an integral part of the medieval fortress, whose strategic value was even confirmed by Frederick II in 1220, the church has its roots in the 13th century under the name of Santa Maria in Castello. This place of worship, linked to the events of the Florentine Republic and a protagonist in the military events between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, is believed to have possibly seen the presence of Dante Alighieri during the clashes of 1303. Among the historical episodes that the church holds in memory, a significant event is the assault and escape of Scarpetta degli Ordelaffi and the Florentine exiles in March 1303. On the occasion of the 600th anniversary of Dante's death (1321-1921), a plaque was placed on the facade of the church, commemorating that dramatic moment. Among the exiles was Dante himself, who was hosted by Scarpetta and served as a secretary. In the same year, the battle near Castel Pulicciano saw two forces facing each other, both led by men from Forlì: Scarpetta for the Florentine exiles and the Ghibellines, and Fulcieri da Calboli for Florence. This episode is part of a war involving powerful families and conflicts between the Guelph and Ghibelline factions, which deeply marked the history of the time. The current appearance of the church is the result of numerous interventions over the centuries, including the significant one by Don Lorenzo Pananti in the seventeenth century and the nineteenth-century restoration commissioned by Prior Gioacchino Materassi. The gabled facade, with an elegant metal cross at the apex and a circular oculus, is embellished with a refined sandstone portal bearing the date 1898. Above the entrance stands a splendid polychrome maiolica lunette, created in 1927 from a design by Galileo Chini, depicting the Assumption framed by a scenic view of the village and the church. Upon crossing the threshold, the interior offers a cozy and harmonious atmosphere, characterized by a single nave with a wooden truss roof and a herringbone-patterned terracotta floor. The furnishings and decorations, a result of the seventeenth-century renovation, give the environment a sober elegance. The side altars, in sandstone, house valuable works: on the right, a panel of the Virgin with Child between Saint Bridget and Saint Lucy stands out, attributed to Giovanni Balducci and dated 1611, while a painting from the seventeenth-century Florentine school depicting the Crucified Christ between Saint Sebastian and Saint Francis is found nearby. On the left side, the first altar houses the Madonna of the Girdle between Saint Augustine, Saint Bridget, Saint Catherine, and Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, a work from the Florentine school of 1654, while the second altar preserves a refined Annunciation by Horace Fidani, dated 1630. Among the most fascinating treasures of the church is the polychrome terracotta group of the Lamentation over the Dead Christ, also known as "the Little Virgins," attributed to the circle of Benedetto Buglioni and dating back to the late fifteenth century. The work, originally kept in the adjacent oratory of the Company, was transferred inside the church in 1984 for better preservation. In the presbytery, attention is drawn to the large altarpiece depicting the Assumption of Mary with the Saints, a tempera on panel from the second half of the sixteenth century attributed to the circle of Santi di Tito, framed by an imposing sandstone structure with composite columns and capitals. Other precious details enrich the complex, such as the octagonal baptismal font created in 1922 by Father Edoardo Rossi, the wooden pulpit made in 1909 by the craftsman Giuseppe Romagnoli, and a small sixteenth-century maiolica depicting the Annunciation, coming from the ancient furnaces of Cafaggiolo. Not far from the church, a path leads to the oratory of the Company of the Announced Virgin, home to a splendid fresco by Mariotto Albertinelli, dating back to the late fifteenth century.

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