Church of San Francesco Saverio

The Church of San Francesco Saverio is a Baroque church in Trento, located in Via Roma, about 300 meters away from Piazza del Duomo and the Cathedral of San Vigilio.

SHORT HISTORY

The church was built by the Society of Jesus (Compagnia di Gesù) between 1708 and 1711. The structure incorporated previous buildings, such as Palazzo delle Costede, of which the remains are still visible on the left side of the main facade, and a medieval tower.

After the suppression of the Society of Jesus in 1773, the church was left in a state of neglect, until the French troops of Napoleon Bonaparte transformed it into a powder magazine.

The church underwent a first restoration in 1895, long after the rehabilitation of the order. The work was commissioned to Hans Rabensteiner.

ART AND ARCHITECTURE

The facade is characterised by a large arched window, on the sides of which, separated by two orders of pilasters in red marble, are the statues of the Jesuit Saints Francis Borgia (bottom left), Francis Regis (top left), Aloysius Gonzaga (top right), Ignatius of Loyola (bottom right) and Saint Francis Xavier (on the main portal’s tympanum).

The church has a rectangular plan with a single nave.

The entrance has frescoes by Carlo Gaudenzio Mignocchi depicting the Nativity (on the ceiling), the Baptism of Jesus (on the right), the Baptism of Constantine (on the left), and Peter the Apostle (intrados).

The narthex is separated from the nave by a gate, after which you can admire four altars on the sides, each with a niche for relics, surmounted by as many altarpieces depicting the Immaculate Conception (left) and the Transit of Giuseppe (right), while further on you can admire the Vocation of Ignatius (left) by Paul Troger and the Prophecy of Simeon (right) by Michelangelo Unterperger.

Between the altars, there are two small chapels – on the right, the Chapel of the Madonna of Lourdes, and on the left, the Chapel of the Crucifixion.

In the apse, overlooking the tabernacle, there is the painting Saint Francis Xavier Baptizing the Indian Queen Neachile by Mignocchi. The altar in white marble of Carrara and red marble of France is the work of Angelo Rangheri.

HOW TO GET THERE

The Church of San Francesco Saverio is located about 400 meters away from the Trento railway station. The closest bus stop is Piazza Dante Palazzo Regione, located about 250 meters away, on the bus Lines 2, 3, 4, 7 and 14.