Tag: chiesa in Lucca

The Church of San Giovanni and Santa Reparata is a church located in Piazza San Giovanni, in Lucca, about 100 meters away from the Cathedral of San Martino, and about the same distance from Piazza Napoleone and the Ducal Palace.   SHORT HISTORY The church was built in the 5th century on the site of a Roman settlement, and was the Cathedral of Lucca until the 8th century, when the role passed to the nearby Church of San Martino. However, after the change, the baptismal font was kept in the Church of Saints Giovanni and Reparata, and the two holy places remained inseparably linked. In the 12th century, a new edifice replaced the old church. The new church, with three naves supported by columns with composite capitals, with apse and transept, wasn’t so different from the early Christian structure. The baptistery was also rebuilt in the 12th century, but the most important renovation works were made in 1393, when it was covered with an ogival dome. Starting with the end of the 16th century and throughout the first two decades of the following century, a new renovation was carried out. During this time, the new facade was built, reusing for Read more [...]

The Church of San Giuseppe is a Catholic church in Lucca, located in Piazza Antelminelli, not far from the Cathedral of San Martino.   SHORT HISTORY The Church of San Giuseppe is, actually, the small oratory of the convent of the Jesuit nuns founded in 1518 in Lucca, and the only part of this ancient structure still standing.   ART AND ARCHITECTURE The church has the typical oratory structure, with two grilled windows on either side of the central portal. The lunette of the portal is decorated with glazed terracotta from the second half of the 16th century, depicting the Madonna between Saints Joseph and Jerome. The interior of the church, with a single nave and a cross vault, underwent a renovation in the mid-17th century, and on this occasion was enriched with carved and gilded wood: a choir leaning against the counter-facade, two side altars, and the high altar, which has in the center the late 16th-century painting with Saints Paul, Joseph and Girolamo, work of Lorenzo Zacchia.   HOW TO GET THERE The Church of San Giuseppe is located about 700 meters away from the Lucca railway station. The closest bus stop is Della Rossa, located about 220 Read more [...]

The Church of San Francesco is a Catholic church in Lucca, located in the homonymous square. Today, the church is deconsecrated and used as a venue for various events.   SHORT HISTORY The presence of the Franciscans in Lucca is attested as early as 1228. The church, built at their behest, was completed in 1430. After a period of neglect, the church became the property of the Municipality of Lucca in 1901, and was reopened for worship in 1910. The facade was completed only at the beginning of the 20th century. In 2003, the Franciscan friars left the convent and the entire complex was purchased by the Municipality of Lucca. In 2010, after some works on the adjacent buildings damaged the complex, the church was bought by Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca Foundation. The church underwent a major restoration between 2011 and 2013.   ART AND ARCHITECTURE The facade of the church, completed in 1930, has wider bands of white limestone alternating with narrower bands of gray limestone. The lower part of the facade presents, in the center, the portal with a painted lunette and, on the sides, two blind round arches with sepulchres. In the upper part, there is Read more [...]

The Church of Santa Maria Forisportam, also known as the Church of Santa Maria Bianca, is a church located in the homonymous square, in Lucca. Forisportam comes from the Latin foris portam, which means outside the gate, due to the location of a first church built on this site during the Roman times, outside the ancient walls of the city. Bianca (white) comes from the white marble facade of the church.   SHORT HISTORY In the 12th century, the church was rebuilt and incorporated within the medieval walls of Lucca. The religious building was modeled after the Cathedral of Pisa. The bell tower was built in 1619, and other restoration works were carried out during the 18th and 19th centuries. From 1512 until the Napoleonic suppression, the church was affiliated with the Canonici Regolari of San Salvatore of Bologna. In 1819, the Canonici returned, and in 1823 they fused with the Canonici Regolari Lateranensi into a single order.   ART AND ARCHITECTURE On the facade of the church, the first order is articulated by blind arcades supported by semi-columns of Pisan imitation. Also on the facade, we can find three portals with architraves decorated with classical motifs. The second order Read more [...]