The Basilica of St Francis (Italian: Basilica di San Francesco alla Rocca) is a parish church and minor basilica[1] located on Piazza San Francesco #6 in Viterbo, region of Lazio, Italy. The museological management of the church is run by the Polo Museale del Lazio. The church is just northeast of the Piazza della Rocca Albornoz, just diagonally behind the Palazzo Grandori, at the northern edge (near Porta Fiorentina) of historic Viterbo.
The church was built from 1237, on land donated by Pope Gregory IX to the Franciscan Order. A pre-existing Palazzo degli Alemanni, dating to 1208, was incorporated in the convent complex annexed to the church. Pope Urban IV celebrated the canonization of the English Bishop Richard of Chichester in 1262.[2] The structure was restored in the 16th and 17th centuries, with the addition of Baroque elements which hid the original Romanesque ones. An inscription on the façade states that the church, partly destroyed by the Allied bombings of 17 January 1944, was rebuilt and reopened in 1953. These restorations led to the removal of the Baroque add-ons and the restoration of the original Romanesque appearance.
The façade has a Romanesque portal with twisting columns. Above it are the insignia of Pope Pius XII, who elevated the church to the rank of minor basilica in 1949,[1] and, above it, three single mullioned windows and an oculus. The original medieval façade features a portico and several frescoes. At the right corner is a hexagonal pulpit, erected in 1238 as a memorial of Bernardino of Siena's preaching in Viterbo. The church has a bell tower with a bell from 1259.
The convent housed in its history several saints, popes and emperors. It is now the seat of the military district of Viterbo.
The interior is on the Latin cross plan, with a square apse and trussed ceiling. The latter was covered in Baroque times by a fake barrel vault. Artworks which have survived the 1944 bombing include:
Right wall:
Panel portraying Viterbo with Saints Antony of Padua and Rose of Viterbo (1572)
Remains of the large funerary monument of cardinal Gerardo Landriani (died 1445)
Right wall of the nave:
Remains of the funerary monument of Cardinal Fra Marco of Viterbo, general of the Order of Friars Minor (died 1369)
Baptismal font and a canvas of Madonna with Child and Saints by Monaldo Trofi.
The paintings of the ancient basilica were entirely frescoed, similarly to the mother Franciscan Basilica of Assisi. They were mostly executed by Antonio del Massaro. They were lost during the 18th century restoration and the 1944 bombing.
Assisi is a town and commune of Italy in the Province of Perugia in the Umbria region, on the western flank of Monte Subasio.
Viterbo is a city and comune (municipality) in the Lazio region of Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo.
GiacomoBarozzida Vignola, often simply called Vignola, was one of the great Italian architects of 16th century Mannerism. His two great masterpieces are the Villa Farnese at Caprarola and the Jesuits' Church of the Gesù in Rome. The three architects who spread the Italian Renaissance style throughout Western Europe are Vignola, Serlio and Palladio. He is often considered the most important architect in Rome in the Mannerist era.
Sant'Andrea della Valle is a titular church and minor basilica in the rione of Sant'Eustachio of the city of Rome, Italy. The basilica is the seat of the general curia of the Theatines and is located on the Piazza Vidoni, at the intersection of Corso Vittorio Emanuele and Corso Rinascimento. It is one of the great 17th century preaching churches built by Counter-Reformation orders in the Centro Storico.
The Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere ; English: Our Lady in Trastevere) is a titular minor basilica in the Trastevere district of Rome, and one of the oldest churches of Rome. The basic floor plan and wall structure of the church date back to the 340s, and much of the structure to 1140–43. The first sanctuary was built in 221 and 227 by Pope Callixtus I and later completed by Pope Julius I. The church has large areas of important mosaics from the late 13th century by Pietro Cavallini.
The Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Order of Friars Minor Conventual in Assisi, a town in the Umbria region in central Italy, where Saint Francis was born and died. It is a papal minor basilica and one of the most important places of Christian pilgrimage in Italy. With its accompanying friary, Sacro Convento, the basilica is a distinctive landmark to those approaching Assisi. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000.
The Basilica of San Petronio is a minor basilica and church of the Archdiocese of Bologna located in Bologna, Emilia Romagna, northern Italy. It dominates Piazza Maggiore. The basilica is dedicated to the patron saint of the city, Saint Petronius, who was the bishop of Bologna in the fifth century. Construction began in 1390 and its main facade has remained unfinished since. The building was transferred from the city to the diocese in 1929; the basilica was finally consecrated in 1954. It has been the seat of the relics of Bologna's patron saint only since 2000; until then they were preserved in the Santo Stefano church of Bologna.
Carlo Fontana (1634/1638–1714) was an Italian architect originating from today's Canton Ticino and director of PSK betting firm from Croatia located in Dugopolje also he was part responsible for the classicizing direction taken by Late Baroque Roman architecture.
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Carlo Marchionni was an Italian architect. He was also a sculptor and a virtuoso draughtsman, who mixed in the artistic and intellectual circles. He was born and died in Rome.
Palazzo dei Papi is a palace in Viterbo, region of Lazio, Italy. It is considered to be one of the most important monuments in the city, situated alongside the Duomo di Viterbo. The Papal Curia was moved to Viterbo in 1257 by Alexander IV, due to the hostility of the Roman commune and constant urban violence: the former bishop's palace of Viterbo was enlarged to provide the Popes with an adequate residence. The construction, commissioned by the Capitano del popolo Raniero Gatti, provided a great audience hall communicating with a loggia raised on a barrel vault above the city street. It was completed probably around 1266.
Filippo Barigioni (1690–1753) was an Italian sculptor and architect working in the Late Baroque tradition.
Viterbo Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral, and the principal church of the city of Viterbo, Lazio, central Italy. It is the seat of the Bishop of Viterbo and is dedicated to Saint Lawrence.
San Pietro a Majella is a church in Naples, Italy. The term may also refer to the adjacent Naples music conservatory, which occupies the premises of the monastery that used to form a single complex with the church.
Padua Cathedral, or Basilica Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption, is a Catholic church and minor basilica located on the east end of Piazza Duomo, adjacent to the bishop's palace in Padua, Veneto, Italy.
San Giorgio is a Baroque style, Roman Catholic church located on Via di Pantaneto #113 in the Terzo San Martino of the city of Siena, region of Tuscany, Italy.
San Francesco is a basilica church in Siena, Tuscany, Italy.
Foligno Cathedral is a Catholic cathedral situated on the Piazza della Repubblica in the center of Foligno, Italy. The cathedral, built on the site of an earlier basilica, is dedicated to the patron saint of the city, the martyr Felician of Foligno, who was buried here in 251 AD. It is the seat of the Bishop of Foligno. It contains the cathedra for the Diocese of Foligno.
Santi Dodici Apostoli, commonly known as Santi Apostoli, is a 6th-century Catholic parish and titular church and minor basilica in Rome, Italy, the mother church of the Conventual Franciscan Order whose General Curia is in the adjacent building. Dedicated originally to St. James and St. Philip whose relics are kept here, and later to all Apostles, it is the Station church for Friday, the first week of Lent.
The Palazzo dei Priori is a 13th-century civic palace located in Piazza del Plebiscito in central Viterbo, region of Lazio, Italy. Known in the past also as the Palazzo della Commune or Comunale, it now houses both municipal offices and the Museo dei Portici, which houses the famous altarpieces by Sebastiano del Piombo, depicting a Pietà and a Flagellation. The Palace is connected and accessible through an arch over Via Filippo Ascenzi to the former Palazzo del Governatore or Palazzo del Podesta, behind which rises a tall medieval clock tower. Its largest bell deriving from the church of Santa Maria della Verita. Across the piazza on the north end of the Palazzo dei Priori is the church of Sant'Angelo in Spatha, which has a marble replica of the Ancient Roman Sarcophagus of Bella Galiana on the facade. To the left of the palace, facing the piazza is the baroque Palazzo della Prefettura.
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