The church of Sant'Andrea is in the old part of Viareggio, in via Sant'Andrea; since June 1963 it has had the dignity of a minor basilica.
What to see
In 1836 the Duke of Lucca Carlo Ludovico di Borbone decreed the building of a new parish in Viareggio, dedicated to Saint Andrew. In 1839 the parish was assigned to the Servants of Mary and the year after Pope Gregory XVI, with a papal brief, assigned church and parish to the Servites in perpetuity. The building was built with its rectory in 1842 to a design by the engineer Michele Cervelli of Lucca; that year the Archbishop of Lucca Giovanni Domenico Stefanelli set up the new parish, separating it from that of Sant'Antonio.
Cervelli, in the bare composition of the building, marked by the severe classicism of the Restoration, achieved an architectural language both dignified and functional, the language that, in the intentions of the public commissioners, was to distinguish the buildings of the newborn seaside town. Inside are interesting works of art and numerous relics; Saint Antonio Maria Pucci worked here and is buried here.
Visiting
The church is in via Sant'Andrea, in the old part of Viareggio. The sources consulted give no opening hours or visiting arrangements: check them.
Our editors' tip
The present four bells, cast in 1938 by the historic Luigi Magni Foundry at San Concordio, Lucca, are the oldest in the city of Viareggio.
