Oratory of the Madonna delle Grazie.
The town’s oldest place of worship: a gabled façade, a bell gable with its 1507 bell and, on the altar, an old fresco of the Madonna.
Built in 1542, the oratory has a gabled façade in plastered stone and a bell gable. The bell is inscribed with the date 1507 and the words Ave Maria gratia plena. It is considered the oldest place of worship in Riparbella.
The interior
The interior has a single nave. On the altar, which is nineteenth-century work, an old fresco of the Madonna delle Grazie is preserved. The walls are hung with two large canvases showing Sant’Antonio Abate and the Virgin assumed into heaven, brought here from the parish church.
Restorations old and recent have shaped the building’s present appearance: until 1959 the façade had a loggia, later removed for road-traffic reasons.
A place of burial , then of celebration
Judging by the many memorial stones, the town’s notables were buried in this oratory. Today it is used for a few special ceremonies, such as the blessing of the olive branches on Palm Sunday and the commemoration of the dead.
Piazza della Madonna, in the old town. A few minutes’ walk from any of the town’s car parks.
There are no fixed opening hours: it opens for special celebrations. The façade and the bell gable can be seen at any time.
Free; it can be seen from the outside at any time.
Texts by the Riparbella tourist office and the portal visitriparbella.com. Checked against Visit Valdicecina, Terre di Pisa and Visit Tuscany. Page updated July 2026.
