The Pieve di Santo Stefano in Sorano, located in Filattiera in the heart of Lunigiana, is a solitary church built of river pebbles, which has been a reference point for pilgrims along the Via Francigena. In addition to its religious function, the Pieve is an archaeological site of considerable interest, testimony of the peoples who have inhabited the region since ancient times.
Originally a place of worship already in prehistoric times, the church retains a female stele statue, used as a building material and walled up on the step of the presbytery in the right aisle. The surrounding area housed a Roman farm, presumably inhabited by the Gens Suria in the 1st century BC, and in the 7th century was occupied by the Kastron Sereon, designated as a garrison of the Byzantine defensive line.
The church has also preserved the memory of Leodgar, a bishop or Lombard gastald, who contributed to the Christianization of the Lunigiana destroying the stone idols and founding hospitable. Mentioned in the 10th century by Sigeric, Archbishop of Canterbury, on his way back from Rome, Santo Stefano di Sorano has maintained its religious functions despite the isolation in the valley floor after the fortification of the hill behind the town and the construction of the church of San Giorgio between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
Despite the collapse of the nineties of the twentieth century, careful restoration work has revived this building of great historical interest. The church has three naves with circular pillars and next to it stands a squat bell tower reminiscent of a watchtower. The apses, with pilasters and hanging arches, reveal influences of northern Italy, like many other buildings of Lunigiana.
