Tag: church in Genoa

The Cathedral of San Lorenzo is a beautiful church in Genoa, located in the small square with the same name. The cathedral is dedicated to San Lawrence, one of the patron saints of Genoa, together with Saint George, Saint John the Baptist and Saint Sebastian.   SHORT HISTORY A first church was built on this place around the 5th or 6th century AD, and dedicated to the bishop of Genoa, San Siro (Saint Sirus). The first documents that attest the existence of a church dedicated to San Lorenzo date back to 878. In 1007, the ancient church of San Siro was given to the Benedictine monks and the episcopal seat was transferred to the Cathedral of San Lorenzo. Starting with 1098, the reconstruction of the church began and the project was entrusted to the Magistri Antelami, master architects, sculptors and carpenters of Romanesque tradition. The building was consecrated in 1118 by Pope Gelasio II. In the 13th century, the church was renovated in Gothic style. The first order of the facade, with its three Gothic portals, dates back to that period. After the fire of 1296, the building, very damaged, was rebuilt again. Between 1307 and 1312, the facade was Read more [...]

Basilica della Santissima Annunziata del Vastato is a beautiful church in Genoa, located in Piazza della Nunziata, in the Prè district. The building is one of the most representative churches of the Genoese art of the late Mannerism and early Baroque of the 17th century.   SHORT HISTORY In 1228, a community of Humiliati friars from Lombardy built on this place a convent and a small church dedicated to Santa Maria del Prato. In 1508, the convent and the church were assigned to the Conventual Franciscan friars from the Convent of San Francesco di Castelletto. The Franciscans started a new construction, better suited for their liturgical needs. Work began on July 20, 1520, when the first stone was laid. The church was built in late Gothic style to respect the artistic style of the mother church of the Franciscan Order, the Basilica of San Francesco d’Assisi. In 1537, the Conventuals left the church to return to the Convent of San Francesco di Castelletto, and the church passed to the Observant Franciscan friars, forced to leave the Convent of the Santissima Annunziata di Portoria. Following the dictates of the Council of Trent, the basilica was radically transformed beginning with 1591. The Read more [...]

The Church of Jesus and the Saints Ambrogio and Andrea is a Baroque church in Genoa, located in Piazza Matteotti, near the Palazzo Ducale and the Piazza De Ferrari. The church, belonging to the Jesuits from the 16th century, hosts works by the Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens, the Italian artist Guido Reni and by the greatest authors of the Genoese Baroque.   SHORT HISTORY The primitive church of Sant’Ambrogio dates back to the 6th century, when the Milanese clergy fled to Genoa, following the Lombard persecutions. The Genoese captivity of the Milanese bishops lasted until the middle of the 7th century, when the bishop Giovanni Bono (John the Good) returned to Milan. Around 1522, the old church passed into the hands of the Jesuits. In 1589, the Jesuits rebuilt the church to its current form, on a project by the architect Giuseppe Valeriano. The facade of the church was completely rebuilt in the second half of the 19th century. Completed in 1894, the facade included two statues of Sant’Ambrogio and Sant’Andrea, by Michele Ramognino.   ART In the central nave and in the dome, we can find frescoes by the painter Giovanni Carlone and by his younger brother, Giovanni Read more [...]