Tag: Filippo Juvarra in Mantua

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    Basilica of Sant’Andrea

    The Basilica of Sant’Andrea is a Renaissance church in Mantua, located in Piazza Andrea Mantegna. Inside the crypt of the basilica, two reliquaries with earth soaked in the Precious Blood of Christ are preserved.   MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST According to tradition, the Roman centurion Longinus pierced the side of the crucified Jesus with the Sacred Spear to ascertain whether He was dead or not. The soldier collected some of the blood in a vessel and returned to Italy. He stopped in Mantua in 37 AD, burying the precious relic in a small box, with the inscription Jesu Christi Sanguis on it. In the year 804, the small box next to his tomb was unearthed and the relic was officially recognized by the Catholic Church and approved for worship by Pope Leo III. Particles of the Precious Blood were transfered to the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, to the Church of Santa Croce in Guastalla, to the Basilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome and to the Abbey of Saint Martin in Weingarten.   SHORT HISTORY A first church dedicated to Sant’Andrea was built on this site in 1046 at the behest of Beatrice of Lotharingia, mother of Matilde di Canossa, Read more [...]