| Basilica of Santissimo Salvatore | |
|---|---|
 Façade. | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Catholic |
| Province | Pavia |
| Year consecrated | 657 |
| Status | Active |
| Location | |
| Location | Pavia, Italy |
| Geographic coordinates | 45°11′16.34″N9°8′20.32″E / 45.1878722°N 9.1389778°E |
| Architecture | |
| Type | Church |
| Style | Renaissance |
| Completed | 1511 |
The Basilica of Santissimo Salvatore is a Roman Catholic church in Pavia, region of Lombardy, Italy. It was founded in 657 by the Lombard king Aripert I and became a mausoleum for many of the Lombard kings.
The first documentation relating to the church is by the historian Paul the Deacon, who refers to the foundation of a "church of the Savior" by Aripert I, king of the Lombards from 653 to 661, to build a place for his burial, as well as his sons Perctarit and Godepert and his nephews Cunipert, Liutpert (certainly not) and Aripert II, thus creating a Bavarian dynasty mausoleum, as well as to celebrate the definitive conversion of the Lombards to Catholicism. [1]
The original nucleus of the church is dated to 657. The medieval church of Saint Salvatore was a church-mausoleum of illustrious Lombard kings. Aripert I with his son Perctarit, nephew Cunipert, Liutpert and Aripert II were buried there. [2]
Adelaide of Italy, queen consort of Italy (from 947 to 950, as wife of Lothair II of Italy, and subsequently from 962 to 973, as wife of Otto I) decided to rebuild both the church and the monastery from the foundations. In 971 he entrusted the monastery to the Benedictine Order and the religious organization to Majolus of Cluny. With the diploma of September 30, 982, Emperor Otto II, donated to the monastery the villages and lands of Corteolona and Monticelli Pavese, and in Garlasco. [3] In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the monastery was the owner of land near Monticelli Pavese, over which the monastery held feudal and ban rights. Frederick Barbarossa is hosted in the palatium near the monastery, later crowned king in the basilica of San Michele Maggiore. In 1248 the Emperor Frederick II also stayed in the same palatium. [4]
In 1448 the monastery was joined to the Benedictines of the Congregation of the Fathers of Santa Giustina of Padua. The Benedictines had both the church and the monastery rebuilt between 1453 and 1511. The church was rebuilt in late Gothic or Renaissance forms (perhaps under architect Giovanni Antonio Amadeo). The importance of the Pavia monastery was certainly maintained until the mid-sixteenth century, as evidenced by the privilege of confirmation of property and immunity issued by Charles V in 1540, followed by a similar one of Philip II in 1555. Important was 1585, the year in where an official ceremony was held for the deposition of the bones of the kings, already buried in the ancient church, in the new building. [5]
Between 1777 and 1779 the Austrian government promoted the establishment, inside the monastery, of the Typography of the Royal Imperial Monastery of San Salvatore, entrusted to the monks but financed by the government and equipped with then modern printing equipment. In 1782 the monastery was suppressed together with other religious corporations in Pavia. In 1795 the monastery was granted to the municipality to house a college for students. Between 1859 and 1900 the church was used by the army as an infirmary and only in 1901 was it returned to the Catholic church. [6] Since 2017, archaeological investigations have started inside the basilica and the former monastery. The excavations have not yet been completed, but have unearthed Lombard tombs that may contain the bones of kings. [7]
The church has a Latin cross plan with three apses, with Gothic rib vaults. The three naves inside the church have classical decorations dating back to the beginning of the 16th century; grotesque motifs, friezes with angels and tondi and portraits of monks in the entablature, clipei with prophets in the apse segments and church doctors in the lunettes. The frescoes and the interior spaces constitute Renaissance elements in a monument that remains marked by the late Gothic taste. [8]
In the first chapel on the left it is possible to admire the youthful frescoes by the painter Bernardino Lanzani. [9] The frescoes narrate episodes from the life of Saint Majolus of Cluny. The fourth chapel on the left is dedicated to the life of Saint Anthony the Great. The frescoes are from Lanzani's workshop and describe episodes from the contemplative life of Saint Anthony. At the back of the church, on the right side of the main altar, the chapel dedicated to San Martin of Tours is preserved. It is a chapel with large volumes typical of the Gothic, with beautiful frescoes also by Bernardo Lanzani. On the dome, which is divided into eight segments, the celestial vault is painted, small clouds and heads of cherubs with purple wings forming concentric circles. The keystone is dominated by the great dove of the Holy Spirit, which hovers in the sky with outstretched wings, emphasized by the rays of golden light. The presbytery contains a rich frescoed decoration dating back to the early 1500s, again by Bernardino Lanzani. [10]
The cloisters was built between 1460 and 1470 and returned to the parish by the military in 1992, it has a square plan and is surrounded on four sides by a portico, supported by columns. with an octagonal section in granite, equipped with Gothic-style capitals, contrasted with capitals in terracotta. Although they are still covered with several layers of paint remains of 15th century frescoes emerge. [11]
Pavia is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, 35 kilometres south of Milan on the lower Ticino near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the capital of the Ostrogothic Kingdom from 540 to 553, of the Kingdom of the Lombards from 572 to 774, of the Kingdom of Italy from 774 to 1024 and seat of the Visconti court from 1365 to 1413.
Cunipert was king of the Lombards from 688 to 700. He succeeded his father Perctarit, though he was associated with the throne from 680.
The Bavarian dynasty was those kings of the Lombards who were descended from Garibald I, the Agilolfing duke of Bavaria. They came to rule the Lombards through Garibald's daughter Theodelinda, who married the Lombard king Authari in 588. The Bavarians were really a branch of the Agilolfings, and were themselves two branches: the branch descended in the female line through Garibald's eldest child and daughter, Theodelinda, and the branch descended from Garibald's eldest son Gundoald. Of the first branch, only Adaloald, Theodelinda's son by her second husband, whom she had chosen to be king, Agilulf, reigned, though her son-in-law Arioald also ruled. Through Gundoald, six kings reigned in succession, broken only by the usurper Grimuald, who married Gundoald's granddaughter:
The Certosa di Pavia is a monastery and complex in Lombardy, Northern Italy, situated near a small town of the same name in the Province of Pavia, 8 km (5.0 mi) north of Pavia. Built in 1396–1495, it was once located on the border of a large hunting park belonging to the Visconti family of Milan, of which today only scattered parts remain. It is one of the largest monasteries in Italy.
San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro is a Catholic basilica of the Augustinians in Pavia, Italy, in the Lombardy region. Its name refers to the mosaics of gold leaf behind glass tesserae that decorate the ceiling of the apse. The plain exterior is of brick, with sandstone quoins and window framing. The paving of the church floor is now lower than the modern street level of Piazza San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro, which lies before its façade.
Ansa or Ansia was a Queen of the Lombards by marriage to Desiderius (756–774), King of the Lombards.
Santa Maria del Carmine is a church in Pavia, Lombardy, northern Italy, considered amongst the best examples of Lombard Gothic architecture. It was begun in 1374 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan, on a project attributed to Bernardo da Venezia. The construction followed a slow pace, and was restarted in 1432, being finished in 1461.
The Civic Museums of Pavia are a number of museums in Pavia, Lombardy, northern Italy. They are housed in the Castello Visconteo, or Visconti Castle, built in 1360 by Galeazzo II Visconti, soon after taking the city, a free city-state until then. The credited architect is Bartolino da Novara. The castle used to be the main residence of the Visconti family, while the political capital of the state was Milan. North of the castle a wide park was enclosed, also including the Certosa of Pavia, founded 1396 according to a vow of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, meant to be a sort of private chapel of the Visconti dynasty. The Battle of Pavia (1525), climax of the Italian Wars, took place inside the castle park.
San Teodoro is a Romanesque-style Roman Catholic church in the town center of Pavia, Italy.
San Lanfranco is a Romanesque-style Catholic church and former abbey, located on via San Lanfranco Vescovo, 4/6, just west of the town center of Pavia, region of Lombardy, Italy.
The church of San Francesco of Assisi is a Catholic religious building in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy.
The church of Sant'Eusebio was a church of Pavia, of which today only the crypt remains. The church was probably built by the Lombard king Rothari (636-652) as the city's Arian cathedral. It later became the fulcrum of the conversion to Catholicism of the Lombards initiated by Theodolinda and the monks of San Colombano and which later received, precisely in Pavia, a great impulse from King Aripert I (653-661) and from Bishop Anastasius.
The church of San Giovanni Domnarum is one of the oldest in Pavia. In the crypt, which was rediscovered after centuries in 1914, remains of frescoes are visible.
The monastery of San Felice was one of the main female Benedictine monasteries of Pavia; founded since the Lombard period, it was suppressed in the 18th century.Part of the church and the crypt survive from the original Lombard complex.
The church of San Marino is a Catholic church in Pavia, in Lombardy.
The Old Campus of the University of Pavia is a complex located in Pavia, in Lombardy, home to the rectorate and some university faculties and the University History Museum of the University of Pavia.
The Church of San Tommaso is a former Catholic church and monastery in the city of Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. It is located within the historic city center and belongs to the University of Pavia.
The monastery of Santa Maria Teodote, also known as Santa Maria della Pusterla, was one of the oldest and most important female monasteries in Pavia, Lombardy, now Italy. Founded in the seventh century, it stood in the place where the diocesan seminary is located and was suppressed in the eighteenth century.
The Church of San Lazzaro is located on the eastern suburbs of Pavia. Built in the 12th century along the Via Francigena, it was equipped with a hospital dedicated to the care of pilgrims and lepers.
The Church of Santi Gervasio e Protasio is a church in Pavia, in Lombardy.
