The church of San Frediano a Settimo stands in the village of the same name in the municipality of Cascina and is also called San Frediano a Lama. It first appears in a document of 24 September 1178. In 1455 the archbishop of Pisa, Giuliano de' Ricci, raised it to a provostry, while leaving it under the jurisdiction of the parish church of San Casciano a Settimo. In 1833 the parish had more than a thousand inhabitants.
What to see
The church was originally a single rectangular hall. In 1787 it was enlarged with a new square choir, flanked by two rooms: the one on the right led to the sacristy, the one on the left to the old cemetery, which no longer exists. The design was by Giovanni Andreini, who in those years worked on many churches in Pisa and its territory.
Inside is a late eighteenth-century painting of Saint Peter, attributed to the Pisan painter Giovanni Battista Tempesti. The dedication recalls Saint Frediano, bishop of Lucca of Irish origin, to whom tradition attributes the miraculous diversion of the river Auser, today's Serchio.
Visiting
The church is home to an active parish community with its own website. Mass times and opening hours should be checked there before going.
Our editors' tip
The name Settimo comes from distance: it marked the place at the seventh mile of the Roman road that ran from Pisa towards Florence on the left bank of the Arno, and corresponds to today's San Benedetto a Settimo.
