Chiesa di San Giacomo e cripta di Santa Margherita

The Chiesa di San Giacomo is a building of two distinct, stacked parts. The lower organism, dedicated to Santa Margherita, is reached by an external staircase. It consists of three unpaved chambers; the largest is barrel-vaulted, plastered, and frescoed, a cool, dark space that feels much older than the church above. The upper church is a longitudinal, single-nave structure of four bays, with side aisles covered by cross vaults and a campanile attached to the left. This is a common medieval arrangement in Italy, where a later church was built directly over an earlier, often crypt-like, sacred space. The result is a layered composition, a visible history of worship on one site, where the visitor descends into a rougher, more ancient world before ascending to the lighter, more formal architecture above.

Description via source. Coordinates and heritage data from the Atika atlas.