Top of the World
About two kilometres from Loro Ciuffenna (Ar), after a detour on the Setteponti road, is the tiny village of Gropina. with the oldest Romanesque parish church in Valdarno, dedicated to St. Peter and declared a national monument whose first records date back to the year 780. The church, 45 m. long and 17 m. wide, was built on the route of the ancient Roman road between Arezzo and Fiesole, which was moved upstream compared to the current Via dei Sette Ponti. A popular legend that has come down to our days says that on the hill where the church is located, in pre-Christian times there was built a pagan temple dedicated to the goddess Diana, daughter of Jupiter and Latona and sister of Apollo. The place-name "Gropina" is probably of Etruscan origin and the present temple, built in the Romanesque period in the 12th century, is known throughout Italy by lovers of art, history and religious architecture. It presents itself with a façade in large stone drafts, with two single-lancet windows that correspond to the aisles and a mullioned window that overlooks the entrance door. On the architrave of the door you can see the date 1422, probably referable to one of the restoration interventions, and the coat of arms of Leo X which bears the date 1522. As soon as you enter, you are greeted by two rows of columns that divide the naves and support the classical seven vaults, a detail common to almost all the parish churches of this period as it is a biblical number. The number seven is considered sacred because it is the symbol of God through which his perfection and completeness is proclaimed: it indicates the seventh day where he rested, that is the Sabbath, after the six days of creation. The three aisles are divided with particular capitals: in the left-hand columns tell episodes from the Old and New Testaments, in the right-hand columns the figures recall pre-Christian, Etruscan and Oriental art, while the nave is covered by a gabled roof supported by wooden trusses. The apse of the church is semicircular, with a double order of small columns.
