The Church of San Mamiliano in Marina di Campo

The church dates back to the pre-Romanesque period and, according to popular tradition, it was founded even before the year 1000, although there are no documents confirming the exact date of its construction. A small hermitage once stood beside it, but over time the complex has been transformed and altered several times.

In 1959, restoration work was carried out and, in preparation for its reopening for worship, the remains of the Saint were transferred from the church of San Matteo in Pisa. The bone relics were later placed inside the masonry altar, leaving only one fragment visible. On 15 September 1960, the day on which the Saint's feast is celebrated, the church was consecrated for worship and dedicated to San Mamiliano. Until a few years ago, the small church was the destination of a joyful and devout pilgrimage, while evocative prayers drifted towards the sea.

Today's façade is very simple: a central doorway, two small windows and a modest-sized rose window. The interior consists of a single nave with a beamed ceiling. Behind the altar is a valuable mid-19th-century painting of San Mamiliano, depicted in the act of killing the dragon, a symbol of the devil. This oil painting on canvas is particularly interesting for the care with which the artist represented the geography of the area: the view of the harbour district of Marina di Campo, with the island of Montecristo in the background.

Devotion to San Mamiliano is deeply felt throughout the Tuscan Archipelago because, when the bishop of Palermo fled persecution and imprisonment, he sought refuge on the Tyrrhenian islands, until he finally withdrew to Montecristo, living as a hermit in a cave on the island that is still known today as the Grotta del Santo. Legend has it that, as soon as he landed on Montecristo, he killed the dragon guarding the island, and that a spring of pure water then gushed forth at the site of the battle.

According to popular tradition, the Saint's death was announced by a great fire that sent up an enormous column of white smoke, visible from Elba and Giglio, from where many boats filled with worshippers set sail. A fierce dispute broke out among the faithful who had reached Montecristo over who should carry the Saint's body, and his limbs were torn apart. Each group then took one arm from the dismembered body: one was later kept as a relic in the small church on Elba, the other on Giglio. According to other versions, some of the relics remained on the island of Montecristo until 1098, when, by order of Pope Urban II, they were transferred to Santa Maria in Monticelli in Rome.