The building was originally dedicated to San Mamiliano, as the inscription on the architrave of the main portal still remembers. The dedication to this saint is very particular, as his cult was widespread especially in the area of ​​the Tuscan Archipelago and in Upper Lazio, while in our area it was completely absent. Documented as early as the 8th century. it was annexed to a monastic complex; while from the twelfth century it is mentioned as a priory, in the fourteenth century it appeared to be in the hands of the Augustinian Hermits. Entitled to San Iacopo in the first half of the fifteenth century, shortly afterwards it began to decline due to the continuous raids and the insecure situation in the area, caused by the wars between Pisa and Florence; at the beginning of the sixteenth century it passed into the possession of the Canons of Pescia. During the nineteenth century the remains of the ancient monastery were transformed into a large farmhouse, then privately owned residential villa.
EXTERNAL
The church has a tau (T) plan and masonry in cavernous limestone and verrucano. The gabled facade is divided by a horizontal frame: in the lower part the portal is framed by pilasters, one of which contains a horned animal head in relief, and is dominated by a rich architrave decorated with spirals and tongued leaves most likely belonging to the oldest church; in the upper one opens a mullioned window, with a ring and a marble column, surrounded by various decorative elements, among which a flower-shaped inlay, a bas-relief and a carved stone in figurative relief, dating back to the VIII-IX century, stand out, and depicting a biblical scene. Attached to the left arm of the transept is the massive bell tower, similar in structure to a defensive tower. The bell tower was lowered in height following a mine detonated by retreating German soldiers in 1944.

INTERNAL
The interior, with a single nave and no apse, is moved only by the two short arms of the transept, connected by round arches whose pillars have capitals richly decorated with plant and animal motifs. In the right arm there are fourteenth-century frescoes, detached and recomposed on a table, depicting some saints; from right to left we recognize: a Holy Bishop, perhaps San Mamiliano, San Giovanni Battista and a fragment of a probable San Girolamo. Along the right wall, carved stones found during the restoration of the church were collected: particularly significant are a shelf with a relief motif representing the Dextera Domini (10th century) and a figured slab with a symbolic scene of difficult interpretation, which according to some scholars alludes to the Passion of Christ (9th-10th century).

THE FEAST OF S. JACOPO
Every year in Vicopisano on the occasion of the day dedicated to S. Giacono or Jacopo (25 July) a religious and popular festival is celebrated, organized by the Parish and some voluntary associations.
The celebration which has a sacred character generally develops over two days during which religious functions and popular celebrations are held. The festival has the sou clou with a nocturnal religious procession that goes from the Pieve di S. Maria to the Pieve di S. Jacopo, where the faithful participate in the Mass and where a classical music concert is usually held.

(from Viconet.it)

With its torn structures and machinery eroded by rust, that place is capable of arousing a strong suggestive power and evoking sensations and reflections that transcend the surface of objects.

The history of this singular agglomeration of buildings and human events begins around 1858, when the landowner Leopoldo Silvatici took possession of a vast agricultural plot below the San Jacopo hill and bordered by the Rio Grifone. Also known as the Rio di Lupeta, this small stream, despite its modest flow, had allowed the development of small activities related to water and water energy in that area. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Silvatici started the construction of a large rectangular building, of which it is still possible to admire the solid and imposing appearance, destined for the use of an oil mill. In order to make up for any water shortages in the modest river and ensure a constant supply of water to the crusher wheel, two large capacity gores were built. A third will be added to these. After a few years, the mill activity was flanked by that of the mill, carried out in another wing of the same building. Since the beginning and throughout the second half of the 19th century, both the mill and the mill transformed a large quantity of product, allowing the Silvatici to obtain substantial profits. Subsequently, however, production suffered a substantial decrease until reaching a phase of serious crisis in the early 1900s. New mills, equipped with advanced technologies, had in fact been built in the areas facing the collection, thus eliminating the burden of transport for users: consequently the requests for milling and pressing against the Silvatici had greatly decreased. Giuseppe Silvatici, who succeeded Leopoldo, decided to cease activities so unprofitable and put all the property up for sale. On 2 March 1934 Nicolo Crastan, co-owner of the well-known Pontese food company, bought the complex.

Given the low probability of profit, Crastan decided to abandon the activity of the mill to undertake another one, which at the time enjoyed a fair demand: coal production. Faced with changing production needs, the new owner had a series of buildings built between 1934 and 1940 adjacent to the original core of the mill. At that time, those brick and gabled roof buildings were used as warehouses, which still stand along the borders of the property and characterize their appearance. Other artefacts of similar manufacture are located on the opposite side, near the left bank of the Rio Grifone. The oil mill, equipped with large volumes, was reused partly as an office location, partly as a warehouse for coal storage. In stark contrast to the rest of the buildings, while being coeval with them, there are the two sheds intended to contain the ovens used in the new production. Through one of the side gates, still today it is possible to see their pointed and leaden profile broken vertically by the black lines of the two exhaust smokestacks. In a short time, that oil mill so perfectly harmonized with the surrounding environment, through a traumatic superfetation had turned into a strange tangle of heterogeneous buildings piled close to each other, in total dystonia with the sweet hills of olive and cypress trees of the Pisan Mountains. The activity focused on the production of vegetable coal, through the use of the embers produced by the burning of wood from the surrounding woods. The product was mainly intended for domestic heating, in particular for ‘bed warmers’, the only time of comfort during the cold seasons. The coal production of the Crastans was stopped in the early years of the Second World War when, following the outcome of the conflict, the Italian economy collapsed. During the war period the area was used in various ways. The warehouses in front of the oil mill were used as “storage of Vicopisano oil and wheat”, of which the remains of the sign are still visible. In the building to the right of the oil mill, it was planned to transfer the Piaggio offices from Pontedera, where the proximity to the railway station, the target of the allied bombings, was a real danger. The Allied advance and the consequent cessation of the bombing made the need for the transfer disappear. The offices were not finished and remained abandoned. They were then used as a makeshift deposit.

(from leviedelbrigante.it)

It takes its name from the stream (Rio Grifone) which flows alongside the oil mill and which until the last century made its mills turn. The olives, rigorously picked by hand, are placed here in the very modern cold pressing line (26 °), where all the steps take place: weighing; defoliation; wash; milling; brakes; “Leopard Pieralisi 2-phase” decanter; centrifuge.
Here rigorous and continuous checks are carried out on the level of acidity, peroxides and polyphenols of each batch: indispensable measures to detect any possible defect in the finished product. The extra virgin olive oil is then filtered and stored in stainless steel basins in a protected environment and kept at a constant temperature of 18 °, until bottling just before marketing.