San Miniato al Monte

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San Miniato al Monte abbey basilica and the Episcopal Palace

The Basilica of San Miniato al Monte is the church of the same name Olivetans - Abbey in Florence , which stands on the highest point of the city. It is a typical example of Romanesque architecture in Tuscany and is considered one of the most beautiful churches in Italy . The facade is a characteristic work of the incrustation style of the Florentine Proto-Renaissance . The church has had the papal honorary title Basilica minor since time immemorial and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site of Florence's Old Town .

location

San Miniato al Monte stands on a hill (Italian: monte ) over the southern bank of the Arno above Piazzale Michelangelo . The location of the church is a well known vantage point overlooking the city.

Appearance and history

Basilica with forecourt
Basilica from the inside

San Miniato al Monte is a three-aisled basilica with a semicircular apse . It was probably built at the same time as the Baptistery of San Giovanni and is a typical work of the incrustation style . The facade is clad in white Carrara marble and dark green serpentine from Prato.

According to legend, the church was built in the place where St. Minias died, a martyr who was beheaded on the Arno under Emperor Decius in 250 and ran up the hill with his head under his arm. Saint Minias was Florence's first martyr, an Armenian prince who left his homeland for a pilgrimage to Rome. He arrived in Florence around 250 and lived there as a hermit . A shrine was later built on the hill where he died and there was a chapel there until the 8th century. The construction of the current church was started in 1013 by Bishop Alibrando. At first the church was a Benedictine monastery, then it was Cluniac and since 1373 the church has been run by Olivetan monks . The Olivetans are a branch of the Benedictines. The monks produce famous alcoholic beverages, honey and herbal teas for gourmets , which they sell in a shop near the church.

The geometrically ordered marble facade was probably started around 1090. The guild of cloth merchants Arte di Calimala , which was responsible for the maintenance and operation of the church from 1288, financed the work. The upper parts of the facade were not completed until the 12th century or later. The mosaic of Christ between the Virgin and St. Minias was laid by Byzantine artists in 1260. The never-completed bell tower collapsed in 1499 and was replaced in 1523. During the siege of Florence (1530) it was used by the defenders as an artillery post. Michelangelo protected him from enemy fire by having mattresses wrapped around him.

The interior of San Miniato al Monte is very unusual, because the choir , which has hardly changed after construction, is arranged on a raised platform above the large crypt . The paved floor dates from 1207. The center of the nave is dominated by the free-standing Cappella del Crocefisso ("Chapel of the Crucifix"), designed by Michelozzo in 1448 . The terracotta decoration of the vault was made by Luca della Robbia .

The crypt is the oldest part of the abbey church. In the high altar supposedly the bones of St. Minias are located. But there are also indications that these were brought to Metz before San Miniato al Monte was built. In the vaults of the crypt there are frescoes by Taddeo Gaddi .

In the raised choir and the presbytery there is a Romanesque roofed pulpit from 1207. In the apse dome there is a large mosaic from 1297. The crucifix above the high altar is attributed to Luca della Robbia . The sacristy is decorated with a large cycle of frescoes from the life of St. Benedict of Spinello Aretino (1387).

The Cappella del Cardinale del Portogallo on the left of the main nave was built by Antonio Manetti in 1473. Cardinal Jacob von Lusitanien , who died in 1459 and a nephew of the Portuguese King Alfonso V , was buried there in a tomb created by Antonio Rossellino .

The church was restored in 1858-1861, 1902-1912 and 1924 .

Monastery, fortress and cemetery

The cemetery overlooks Florence
The cemetery in a picture by Hans von Bartels (1856–1913)
A tomb on the Cimitero delle Porte Sante

Next to the abbey church is the monastery, which was built from 1425, as well as the fortified palace of the bishop from 1295, which was later used as a barrack and hospital for plague sufferers. The whole complex is surrounded by defensive walls that were originally hastily built by Michelangelo during the siege around 1553 and converted into a real fortress (Italian: fortezza ) under Cosimo I. In 1854, as a result of an outbreak of cholera, the city administration permitted burial in and around the church. The walls of the Fortezza now surround the Cimitero delle Porte Sante cemetery belonging to the building . It and the staircase leading up to the building were built in 1868 according to a design by Nicola Matas . Due to its illustrious location, the cemetery was the predestined place to bury the wealthy and deserving citizens of the city, which was promoted by the city administration. The first stately burial chapels were built in the cemetery in the 1870s. The graves of the following famous people can be found:

Others

  • The church is an important location in the film Obsession (German: Black Angel ) by Brian de Palma.
  • The floor mosaic of the church is the title of Zenta Maurina's essay volume Mosaic of the Heart . In a letter dated July 15, 1946, she wrote to her publisher Maximilian Dietrich:
    “[...] And I always returned to my favorite subject: joy is the meaning of life, the conqueror of earthly gravity. This is how the small volume 'Mosaik des Herzens' that was sent to you was born.
    In the church of San Miniato in Florence, the floor is composed of wonderful mosaic: small, colorful stones form wonderful structures. And human feet carelessly ignore it.
    One of my dearest wishes is to visit this church again. As I wrote my essays, my mind was in her. How wonderful are the structures that human hands have formed, the same hand that does not shrink back from smashing sacred places. "
  • The master of San Miniato , a painter from 15th century Florence who is not known by name, got his emergency name after the church in which eight of his pictures are located.

literature

  • Francesco Guerrieri, Lucina Berti, Claudio Leonardi : La Basilica di San Miniato al Monte a Firenze. 1998.
  • Graziella Cirri: Guida ai cimiteri comunali di Firenze. 2003.

Web links

Commons : San Miniato al Monte  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

swell

  1. ^ Gene Brucker: Florence: The Golden Age, 1138-1737 . University of California Press, 1998, ISBN 0-520-21522-2 , p. 194.
  2. ^ Augustus John Cuthbert Hare: Florence . Adamant Media Corporation, 2002, ISBN 1-4021-5933-1 , p. 204.
  3. ↑ Zenta Mauriņa: Letters from Exile 1945–1951 , Memmingen 1980, p. 12 f.

Coordinates: 43 ° 45 ′ 35 "  N , 11 ° 15 ′ 53"  E