“No one in the U.S. is going to care about your abandoned little church in Italy,” our priest told us. “I wouldn’t waste the time and effort.” Rather than heed Father’s discouraging counsel, I steadfastly set off on my mission: to save San Filippino, a stunning 17th-century baroque chapel in a little-known town in Tuscany.

Castiglion Fiorentino is a long name for a small town perched on a hill between the Val di Chio and Val di Chiana, about an hour southeast of Florence and two hours north of Rome. A few years ago, my husband, Tim, and I purchased a modest apartment there, in the historic town center. Castiglion Florentino is one of those postcard-pretty medieval villages that travelers just happen upon and end up visiting again and again. Tim and I belong to that lucky group.