Porciano

ST. GEORGE'S CHURCH IN PORCIANO



St. George's Church in Porciano is located in a beautiful position from which one can enjoy an incredible view over all the hills and valleys below, even reaching the sea. It is a very ancient Church, considering that already in the first half of the thirteenth century the "Cappella S. Georgii" gave its name to one of the three fractions of the town of Lamporecchio. In the second half of the same century the Church results tied to the Pieve of Lamporecchio. Despite the absence of accurate documents, however, the origins of the building seem to date even more back in history. This can be justified by the Curch's general structure as well as the presence of irregularly-shaped stones in its walls, which are typical of the Middle-Ages. Furthermore, the fact that the Church is dedicated to St. George also encourages this conjecture as the cult of St. George and St. Michael (both also being warriors, glorified by medieval knights) was particularly common around the year 1000. The actual state of the building is however the result of several re-structurations made in the fifteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The façade of the Church is preceded by a more recent open gallery supported by pillars. At the corner of the right-hand side of the façade stands the bell tower, which is not particularly tall.
(Taken from "Percorsi nella storia e nell'arte di un paese del Montalbano - Lamporecchio " di Valerio Bonfanti editor C.R.T.)