Madonna di Montenero Church in Larderello

A project of the famous architect Giovanni Michelucci

This is the most modern church of the Valdicecina, since it was built in 1958 according to the project of Giovanni Michelucci, a renowned architect from Florence. The church definitely looks modern and it reminds of other designs of the same architect, with its elongated polygonal plant and a nave surrounded by a low-ceiling ambulatory. The presbytery, the choir, the sacristy and the base of the belltower are located in a complex structure with a square plan.

A stairway leads up to the church and its gabled facade, built on a bigger two-stories structure. Four lesenes of the Tuscan order enclose the door and two niches with sculptures. On the second level, the facade presents a small central rose window surmounted by a pediment.
On the inside, visitors can admire the cast-iron pulpit decorated with panels portraying Christ and the four evangelists, as well as the main altar with the image of the Madonna di Montenero inside a big golden sunburst. The image reminds one of the one in the Montenero sanctuary in Livorno because, as a matter of fact, De Larderel did live in Livorno.

This church is the place of worship built inside the geothermal compound founded by Francesco de Larderel. The church was first built in 1832 under De Larderel’s orders, it was consecrated in 1856 and then transformed in the 50s by architect Giovanni Michelucci.

Visit the other “borghi”

in the area of Pomarance