The church of San Bartolomeo near Cune, also known as "Romitorio di San Bartolomeo", is a small church with a single nave with an apse similar to many others built in the territory of the diocese of Lucca during the 12th century and particularly similar to that of San Martino in Greppo. The toponym of Cune, on the other hand, has been known since the 9th century. The architectural beauty of the small building, compact and of limpid proportions, is underlined by the suggestion of the place where it arose, a centuries-old holm oak wood near the ancient Bargiglio fortress, demolished in 1373.
The church of San Bartolomeo near Cune, also known as the “Hermitory of San Bartolomeo”, is a small church with a single nave and an apse similar to many others that arose in the territory of the diocese of Lucca during the 12th century and particularly similar to that of San Martino in Greppo. The toponym of Cune has been known since the 9th century. The architectural beauty of the small building, compact and of clear proportions, is underlined by the charm of the place where it was built, a centuries-old holm oak forest near the ancient fortress of Bargiglio, demolished in 1373. The original medieval layout had been modified with the addition of a portico, today however eliminated and known only from a drawing made by Giuseppe Matraia for the guide of the city of Lucca and the county that the scholar was preparing towards the middle of the nineteenth century: the manuscript of the Guide and the drawing of San Bartolomeo are preserved in the State Library of Lucca. In front of the facade of the church still stands the massive bell tower, built with a more rustic masonry than the one, with squared ashlars, that characterizes the church. Despite the isolation, the inhabitants of Cune continue to feel a particular bond towards their ancient church, where until a few years ago the Christmas Eve mass continued to be celebrated. In the current parish church there is a wooden statue of Saint Bartholomew from the first half of the fourteenth century, coming from the ancient church dedicated to the saint and worthy of note for the almost perfect conservation of the original polychromy. On the base of the statue there is an inscription, almost illegible, which however tells us the author of the polychromy itself (in medieval and post-medieval wooden sculpture the plastic and pictorial parts were often performed by different artists), a certain “Johannes de Petrascancta”.
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