This church Is certainly of ancient origin; in fact many clues tell us that the foundation must date back to the period of Lombard rule. Although it has sometimes been identified as the paleo-Christian cathedrai (vs31) because of the orientation of its apse, the Church of Sant'Andrea probably dates back to the seventh century. It was renovated into its present form around the mid twelfth century. The building's distinguishing characteristics can be seen firstly on the front where the polychrome inlays present three doorways of which the middle one has an architrave with carved scenes. This was sculpted by Gruamonte (vs29)after the mid twelfth century and portrays the Journey of the Magi; this unusual iconographic choice suggests a particular relationship between this church and that urban part of the via Franchigena along which it had been built. Stylistically both Gruamonte and Enrico (the master who signed the two capitals that support the architrave) belonged to the stylistic movement, headed by Guglielmo, that had developed around the cathedral of Pisa. The church's interior, divided into three naves with columns and a semi-circular apse, can be fully ascribed to the general renewal that involved the major Pistoian churches in the mid twelfth century. Its appearance today was uncovered by a series of restorations, particularly by the most recent ones which tore out much of the work that had been added over the centuries; today we see a building which is certainly austere and suggestive but different from the original. The richness of its colors can still be seen in some of the few remaining frescos. The church houses great works of art that make it one of the most interesting places in the region. Among these there are the Pulpit A sculpted by Giovanni Pisano at the end of the thirteenth century (vs26)and the wooden Crucfix B (vi), on the first altar on the left wall, that Giovanni carved for the Church of Santa Maria Ripalta (vs28) The enclosure of the presbytery whose panels were sculpted in Romanesque times (today located on the right wall C), was thus described in the local guidebooks of the last century: around the presbytery there are rosone-shaped marble panels with decorations in low relief. The high altar, commissioned by the Pappagalli family in the late eighteenth century has been substituted by an altar D obtained by reworking a thirteenth century tombstone that had been uncovered during excavations near Pistoia. In a Renaissance tabernacle on the right hand wall Is another wooden Crucifix E attributed to Giovanni Pisano while the round wall of the apse is decorated with an impressive depiction of the Blessing of God the Father F painted in 1506 by the Pistoian artist Bernardino del Signoraccio (vs46).

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There are two Crucifixes sculpted by Giovanni Pisano housed today in the church of Sant'Andrea. Giovanni carved the venerated Crucifix B today on the venerated Crucifix (vs26). In this latter piece Giovanni had shown his talent in using the Gothic style, particularly in those highly dramatic scenes that interested him most, like the Crucifixion. In this panel of the pulpit he expressed the suffering of the Christ made man, in full agreement with Franciscan philosophy.The Crucifix carved in wood shows an even more tortured surface than the stone one - after all, the possibilities offered by the two materials were quite different - and he sculpted the body of a man on the cross with his limbs contorting in suffering and his mounth just open in the last gasp of his terrible agony.The model Giovanni prosposed met with great success and was repeated by his workshop and by others who took his work as a reference point. In fact, in the same church on the left wall these is another small wooden Crucifix E very similar to Giovanni's style even though it has not been widely attributed to him.