Badia di S. Salvatore at Soffena
Along the ‘statale dei sette ponti’, coming from Loro Ciuffenna and before arriving in Castelfranco,
the remains of the Badia di S. Salvatore at Soffena stand out on the left. It was originally a castle
owned by the Ubertini. Portions of the old castle walls, where there are embrasures, remain today at
the base of the bell-tower. During the second half of the eleventh century the castle went to ruin. A
few years later, a monastery was built upon the ruins of the building. It was called S. Salvatore de
Sophena and was subject to the Abbazia (‘Abbey’) of S. Trinita in Alpe on the Pratomagno, and later
to the Abbey of Vallombrosa.
The sober fourteenth-century lay-out of the church remains intact. It is in the form of a Latin cross,
based on the model of the early church of Vallombrosa. On the exterior, simple windows with one
light, of a pleasantly rural character, alternate with solid buttresses which support the weight of the
ceiling and the vaults of the church.
The monastery was suppressed in 1779 and limited to agricultural uses. In recent years the church
has been restored and re-consecrated. The restoration has enabled the full restitution and
appreciation of the important frescoes which decorated the simple austere interior: L’Annunciazione
(‘The Annunciation’) by Giovanni, known as lo Scheggia (‘The Splinter’), La Strage degli Innocenti
(‘The Massacre of the Innocents’) by Maestro Liberato da Rieti, Madonna col Bambino (‘Madonna
with Child’) by Paolo Schiavo, S. Giovanni Gualberto e storie della sua vita (‘St. Giovanni Gualberto
and scenes from his life’) by Bicci di Lorenzo.
Parish Church of S. Maria. Piandiscò
Along the ‘statale dei sette ponti’, after passing through Piandiscò on the road from Castelfranco, on
the left stands the parish church of S. Maria, of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The bell-tower
and the three apses of the church still overlook the modern road which follows the route of the old
Cassia. The church with its nave and two aisles, underwent two stages of construction as the face of
the wall on the left side still clearly shows today. The original face of the wall in very precise and
regular rows of sandstone blocks is still well conserved near the façade. In this area the left side is
still composed of a series of small suspended arches standing alternately on corbels and pilasters
rising from a high plinth. The area of the presbytery, including the apses, was rebuilt in roughly
hewn stone after it collapsed. The façade is contemporary with the first stage of the construction of
the church. The church is characterized by the low elevation of the nave, the five blind arches which
surround the portal, and two one-light windows which date from the restoration in 1932.
Inside the church there is a fine Madonna col Bambino (‘Madonna with Child’) by Paolo Schiavo.
Parish Church of Cascia
Cascia is near Reggello and reached, coming from Piandiscò, directly by a side-road which runs to
the left off the ‘Statale dei sette ponti’. The edifice with a nave and two side aisles in regular rows of
sandstone blocks ends in a single apse. The mighty bell-tower, set slightly apart from the right side
of the church, rises up in the village of Cascia. In front of the façade there is a highly unusual
portico with five arches supported by massive columns with classical-style capitals. The portico was
entirely re-built in the course of restoration in 1930 which resulted in the all but complete
substitution of the original stone, which was by then consumed and dilapidated.
Among other works of art, the particularly solemn interior of the church holds, at the end of the left
aisle, the first known work by Masaccio, the celebrated Trittico di S. Giovenale (‘St. Giovenale
Triptych’).
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