Luni Cathedral
Denomination	Catholic
Located	Luni
Founded	4th - 5th century
Diocese	Diocese of Luni

Luni Cathedral, previously the Pieve

Pieve

In the Middle Ages, a pieve was a rural church with a baptistery, upon which other churches without baptisteries depended.The Italian word pieve is descended from Latin plebs which, after the expansion of Christianity in Italy, was applied to the community of baptized people...

 of Santa Maria, was located in Luni, Italy

Luni, Italy

Luni is a frazione of the comune of Ortonovo, province of La Spezia, in the easternmost end of the Liguria region of northern Italy...

, near the port. According to archaeological discoveries the church was built by the Romans in the late 4th and early 5th century and was the centre of the Diocese of Luni.

The cathedral was mentioned for the first time in a document of 879 by Carloman, King of Italy. Up to the 12th century it underwent several restorations before being abandoned along with the city in the early 13th century, when the seat of the Bishop of Luni was transferred to Sarzana

Sarzana

Sarzana is a town and comune in the Province of La Spezia, of Liguria, Italy, 15 km east of Spezia, on the railway to Pisa, at the point where the railway to Parma diverges to the north...

, where in the course of time Sarzana Cathedral

Sarzana Cathedral

Sarzana Cathedral in Sarzana, Liguria, Italy, is a co-cathedral of the Diocese of La Spezia-Sarzana-Brugnato. It is dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary...

was built and replaced that of Luni, which eventually fell entirely into ruin. Despite this, until well into the 13th century the bishops of Luni celebrated mass annually in the remains of the old cathedral.