San Francesco d'Assisi, Palermo

Last updated
Church of Saint Francis of Assisi
Chiesa di San Francesco d'Assisi (in Italian)
Basilica San Francesco d'Assisi, Palermo.jpg
Façade of the Church of Saint Francis
Religion
Affiliation Roman Catholic
Province Archdiocese of Palermo
Rite Roman Rite
Location
Location Palermo, Italy
Geographic coordinates 38°06′59.44″N13°21′59.32″E / 38.1165111°N 13.3664778°E / 38.1165111; 13.3664778
Architecture
Style Gothic, Sicilian Baroque
Groundbreaking13th century
Website
Official site
Interior of the church St. Francis of Assisi, Palermo.jpg
Interior of the church

The Church of Saint Francis of Assisi (Italian: Chiesa di San Francesco d'Assisi or simply San Francesco d'Assisi) is a Gothic-style, Roman Catholic church of Palermo. It is located near a major and ancient street of the city, via Cassaro, in the quarter of the Kalsa, within the historic centre of Palermo. The building represents the main Conventual Franciscan church of Sicily, and has the title of minor basilica.

Contents

History

The history of the church starts with the arrival of the Franciscans in Sicily. In 1224 the chronicler Vadingo the start of construction of the first Franciscan convent near the Walls of Palermo. However, shortly after, the local clergy with the support of the Saracens chased the friars out from the city. The friars went to Viterbo and appealed to the Pope Gregory IX.

The pontiff ordered Landone, archbishop of Messina, to promote the reconstruction of the convent. The pope also took advantage of the absence of the archbishop of Palermo, Berard of Castagna, who had traveled to Germany with the Emperor Frederick II. Therefore, in 1235 the friars built a new convent by converting an old Byzantine fortification dating back to the military campaign of George Maniakes. In 1239, because of quarrels with the Pope, Frederick II decreed the building's destruction.

In 1255 the Vicar general of Sicily Ruffino Gorgone da Piacenza, chaplain of Pope Alexander IV, entrusted the reconstruction to the bishop of Malta, Roger. The work went on during the period of Charles of Anjou. In 1302 the main portal and the anterior façade were built, both in Chiaramontan-Gothic style. In the 15th century several chapels were built in Gothic and Renaissance style, including the Chapel Mastrantonio, the first manifestation of the Renaissance in Sicily.

Over the centuries the church became rich of artworks thanks to artists like Antonio di Belguardo, Antonio Scaglione, Giuseppe Giacalone, Francesco Laurana, Pietro de Bonitate, Gabriele di Battista, Domenico Pellegrino, Iacopo de Benedetto, Domenico Gagini, Antonello Gagini and his sons Antonio and Giacomo, Giuliano Mancino, Antonio Berrettaro, Antonello Crescenzio, Cesare da Sesto, Mariano Smiriglio, Vincenzo degli Azani, Pietro Novelli, Gerardo Astorino and Giacomo Serpotta. As a result, the interior of the church contains decorations from varied periods and styles, from gothic to baroque.

On 5 March 1823, the building was damaged by an earthquake. The church was restored in the Neoclassical style. Other damage was caused by the air raids during the Second World War. In recent decades the church was restored.

In 1924 Pope Pius XI assigned a title of minor basilica to this church. The church of Saint Francis of Assisi has an important role in the religious life of Palermo: in fact, in this church is enshrined the Simulacrum of the Immaculate Conception that every year, on the evening of December 8, pass through the streets of the historic center among thousands of believers who accompany the procession till the Piazza San Domenico. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi</span> Catholic church of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual in Assisi

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palermo Cathedral</span> Cathedral

Palermo Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Palermo, located in Palermo, Sicily, southern Italy. It is dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. As an architectural complex, it is characterized by the presence of different styles, due to a long history of additions, alterations and restorations, the last of which occurred in the 18th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sacro Convento</span>

The Sacro Convento is a Franciscan friary in Assisi, Umbria, Italy. The friary is connected as part of three buildings to the upper and lower church of the Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi, which contains the body of Saint Francis. St. Francis wanted to be buried at this location outside of Assisi's city walls, called Hill of Hell, because his master Jesus of Nazareth also was killed like a criminal outside of the city of Jerusalem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Noto</span> Roman Catholic diocese in Italy

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giacomo Gagini</span> Italian sculptor

Giacomo Gagini was an Italian sculptor of the Gagini family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Maria della Gancia, Palermo</span>

Santa Maria della Gancia, also known as Santa Maria degli Angeli, is a 15th-century Roman Catholic church, adjacent to a convent, located on Via Alloro #27 in central Palermo, region of Sicily, Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Francesco d'Assisi, Alcamo</span> Church building in Alcamo, Italy

San Francesco d'Assisi is a 16th-century-style church dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi, located in Alcamo, province of Trapani, Sicily, southern Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Francesco d'Assisi, Turin</span> Church in Italy

San Francesco d'Assisi is a Baroque style, Roman Catholic church located on via San Francesco d'Assisi in Turin, region of Piedmont, Italy. The church of San Rocco is on the same street.

The Gagini or Gaggini were a family of architects and sculptors, originally from Bissone on Lake Lugano. This family founded Sicily's Gagini school, which flourished until the mid-1600s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicosia Cathedral</span>

Nicosia Cathedral is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Nicosia, Sicily, and is located in Nicosia, Sicily, Italy. It is dedicated to Saint Nicholas of Bari. The Cathedral preserves a precious and unique wooden roof of 1300.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Caterina, Palermo</span>

Santa Caterina d'Alessandria or Saint Catherine of Alexandria is a Roman Catholic church with a main facade on Piazza Bellini, and a lateral Western facade facing the elaborate Fontana Pretoria, in the historic quarter of Kalsa in the city of Palermo, region of Sicily, Italy. In front of the main facade, across the piazza Bellini, rise the older churches of San Cataldo and Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio, while across Piazza Pretoria is the Theatine church of San Giuseppe and the entrance to the Quattro Canti. Refurbished over the centuries, the church retains elements and decorations from the Renaissance, Baroque, and late-Baroque (Rococo) eras. This church is distinct from the Oratorio di Santa Caterina found in the Olivella neighborhood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treasure Museum of the Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi</span>

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mauro Gambetti</span> Archpriest of St. Peters basillica

Mauro Gambetti OFMConv is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who was appointed archpriest of Saint Peter's Basilica, Vicar General for the Vatican State, and president of the Fabric of Saint Peter on 20 February 2021. He was consecrated a bishop on 22 November 2020 just before Pope Francis raised him to the rank of cardinal on 28 November 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sicilian Renaissance</span> The Renaissance movement in Sicily

The Sicilian Renaissance forms part of the wider currents of scholarly and artistic development known as the Italian Renaissance. Spreading from the movement's main centres in Florence, Rome and Naples, when Renaissance Classicism reached Sicily it fused with influences from local late medieval and International Gothic art and Flemish painting to form a distinctive hybrid. The 1460s is usually identified as the start of the development of this distinctive Renaissance on the island, marked by the presence of Antonello da Messina, Francesco Laurana and Domenico Gagini, all three of whom influenced each other, sometimes basing their studios in the same city at the same time.

Santa Maria di Gesù is a Roman Catholic church and convent located along Viale Regina Margherita, on Piazza Guglielmo Marconi #10, in Vizzini, in the region of Sicily, Italy.

San Francesco is a Roman Catholic church and convent located in the town of Tortorici, province of Messina, region of Sicily, Italy. The church was named a national monument. It stands diagonally across from the parish church of Santa Maria Assunta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Maria dei Miracoli, Palermo</span> Church building in Palermo, Italy

Santa Maria dei Miracoli (English: Holy Mary of the Miracles is a Renaissance-style, Roman Catholic church located in the quarter of Kalsa of the historic centre of Palermo, region of Sicily, Italy. It is located in front of the Giardini Garibaldini and Piazza Marina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Francesco, Butera</span>

San Francesco D'Assisi is a Roman Catholic church and former minorite convent in the town of Butera, the province of Caltanissetta, the region of Sicily, Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Francesco, Pavia</span> Church building in Pavia, Italy

The church of San Francesco of Assisi is a Catholic religious building in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of San Bernardino da Siena (Amantea)</span> Church in Amantea, Italy

The Church of San Bernardino da Siena is a Catholic place of worship in the Italian municipality of Amantea, in the province of Cosenza in Calabria. It is situated 34 metres (112 ft) above sea level on the street of the same name in the Tyrrhenian town.

References

  1. Church of St. Francis of Assisi Palermo on siciliandays.com