Romanesque St James' Church was founded in the 9th century and completed in Latin-cross form in 1225; look up to see its handsome ship's keel ceiling. Within the serene gloom of the interior, notable artworks include a rare Lorenzo Lotto Madonna with Child and Saints (1546) and an exceptional Paolo Veneziano crucifix (c 1350), Christ's agony depicted with quiet grace. A green marble column, praised by Ruskin, was most likely brought here from Byzantium.
Architectural quirks include decorative pillars, a 14th-century carena di nave (ship’s keel) ceiling and a 6th-century Byzantine green-marble column looted from Constantinople during the infamous Fourth Crusade.
