San Lazzaro, Sarzana

A number of hospitals lined the routes of Via Francigena to host the pilgrims, who often travelled until Rome or Santiago de Compostela.

In 1584, the ecclesiastical official Monsignor Angelo Peruzzi visited the hospital and ordered that the small chapel had to be restored and adorned with a new sacred icon.

[citation needed] In 1616, the painter Domenico Fiasella was hired to perform an important painting work: San Lazzaro implora la Vergine per la città di Sarzana (in english: St. Lazarus implores the Virgin for the city of Sarzana).

The view of Sarzana, in the lower part of the painting, is a thorough representation of the city and its landscape during the 17th century and includes the defensive walls, the bell towers, the fortress of Sarzanello and the Apuan Alps.

The flank of the present church runs parallel and adjacent to the south-bound lane of the Via Aurelia, on the road from Sarzana southwest to Avenza and subsequently Massa.