San Michele in Foro is a Roman Catholic basilica church in Lucca, Tuscany, central Italy, built over the ancient Roman forum. Until 1370 it was the seat of the Consiglio Maggiore (Major Council), the commune's most important assembly. It is dedicated to Archangel Michael.
The church is mentioned for the first time in 795 as ad foro (in the forum). It was rebuilt after 1070 by will of Pope Alexander II.
Notable is the façade, from the 13th century, with a large series of sculptures and inlays, numerous of which were remade in the 19th century. There is a description by John Ruskin of the decayed state of that façade, observed during his tour of 1845. [1] The lower part has a series of blind arcades, the central of which includes the main portal. The upper part, built using plenty of iron materials to counter wind, has four orders of small loggias. On the summit, flanked by two other angels, is the 4 m-tall statue of St. Michael the Archangel. According to a legend, an angel's finger would have a huge diamond. On the lower right corner of the façade is a statue (1480) of the Madonna salutis portus, sculpted by Matteo Civitali to celebrate the end of the 1476 plague.
The church interior has a nave and two aisles with transept and semicircular apse; the nave is supported by arcades on monolithic columns. From the southern transept rises the bell tower, built in the 12th-14th centuries, with a series of single, double and triple mullioned windows. The last floor was demolished during the rule of Giovanni dell'Agnello (1364–1368), Doge of Pisa.
Amongst the artworks in the interior, are a Madonna with Child terracotta by Luca della Robbia and a panel with Four Saints by Filippino Lippi.
The body of a pilgrim saint, San Divino Armeno, is preserved under the high altar in the church. Born in Armenia around 1000, he embarked on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and Rome, eventually reaching Lucca in 1050 along the Via Francigena. He died in the city during a stop of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. He died on June 3, 1050, and was initially buried outside the church. His remains were later moved to the altar inside the church. San Divino was likely declared a saint by Pope Alexander III in 1159. His body is one of Italy's oldest known mummified saints. [2] A 2018 paleopathological study confirmed his death occurred between 1025 and 1124, consistent with historical accounts. [3]
Lucca is a city and comune in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957.
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The Via Francigena is an ancient road and pilgrimage route running from the cathedral city of Canterbury in England, through France and Switzerland, to Rome and then to Apulia, Italy, where there were ports of embarkation for the Holy Land. It was known in Italy as the "Via Francigena" or the "Via Romea Francigena". In medieval times it was an important road and pilgrimage route for those wishing to visit the Holy See and the tombs of the apostles Peter and Paul.
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Matteo Civitali (1436–1501) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor and architect, painter and engineer from Lucca. He was a leading artistic personality of the Early Renaissance in Lucca, where he was born and where most of his work remains.
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Santuario della Madonna del Divino Amore, or the Shrine of Our Lady of Divine Love, is a Roman Catholic shrine in the southern outskirts of Rome dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary that consists of two churches: an old church built in 1745 and a new church added to the sanctuary in 1999. The church was included by Pope John Paul II in the pilgrimage of Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome during the Holy Year 2000.
San Michele Arcangelo is a 13th-century Romanesque-style Roman Catholic church located on Via Guarnacci #6 in Volterra, province of Pisa, region of Tuscany, Italy. The church is across the street from the Medieval Palazzo Maffei-Guarnacci.
San Pietro alle Scale, also known as San Pietro in Castelvecchio is a Roman Catholic parish church located on via San Pietro, Terzo of Città, in Siena, region of Tuscany, Italy. Initially built in the 12th century, this parish church was completely rebuilt in a Baroque style in the 17th century; the brick facade has a portal with a depiction of Glory of St Peter. The belltower dates to 1699, and the facade to 1706.
San Michele a Castiglione is a 12th-century, Roman Catholic church located in the town of Castiglione di Garfagnana, in the province of Lucca, region of Tuscany, Italy.
Santi Quirico e Giulitta is 12th-century Roman Catholic parish church in Capannori, province of Lucca, region of Tuscany, Italy.
The Pieve di San Frediano is a rural parish church, originally founded in the 8th century, and located in Lunata, a hamlet of the town of Capannori, province of Lucca, region of Tuscany, Italy.
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