Barberino Val d'Elsa - Sant'Appiano

The missionary Saint Appiano may have lived here in the 4th century inside the ruins of a Roman temple. A church is mentioned in a ducument from 990, the Pieve di Sant'Appiano, seen in the background, was built in 12th-13th centuries. It has a crypt, and there is even a cloister, but unfortunately the whole complex was locked.

The four pillars in the front of the church are the remaining ruins of a baptistery, that surely existed already, when the church was erected. The capitels are adorned with early Christan motifs.