The Basilica of San Martino is a church in piazza Italia at the junction of via Fantoni and via Roma in the historic centre of the north Italian town of Alzano Lombardo. Dedicated to

Martin of Tours Martin of Tours ( la, Sanctus Martinus Turonensis; 316/336 – 8 November 397), also known as Martin the Merciful, was the third bishop of Tours. He has become one of the most familiar and recognizable Christian saints in France, heralded as the ...

, it was promoted to the status of a

minor basilica In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...

in 1922 by

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fro ...

. Adjoining it is the San Martino Museum of Religious Art, named after the basilica.

History

It is first recorded in 1023, when it occupied a much smaller buildings. Several others were built over it over the centuries, including the much larger 15th century version with a stone

campanile A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

, of which only the campanile survives. Early in the 17th century the generous bequest of 1,700

scudi The ''scudo'' (pl. ''scudi'') was the name for a number of coins used in various states in the Italian peninsula until the 19th century. The name, like that of the French écu and the Spanish and Portuguese escudo, was derived from the Latin ''scu ...

from Bernardino Fugazza, a citizen of the town, allowed the chancel to be rebuilt. At the same time the paintings ''The Miracle of St Martin'' and ''Saint Martin in his

Cathedra A ''cathedra'' is the raised throne of a bishop in the early Christian basilica. When used with this meaning, it may also be called the bishop's throne. With time, the related term ''cathedral'' became synonymous with the "seat", or principa ...

'' were commissioned from

Gian Paolo Cavagna Giovanni Paolo Cavagna (c. 1550 – May 20, 1627) was an Italian painter of the late-Renaissance period, active mainly in Bergamo and Brescia. Biography He was born in Borgo di San Leonardo in Bergamo. He is said to have trained in Venice with ...

, as well as ''St Martin and the Poor Man'' on the counter-facade. The present structure also dates to the 17th century and another bequest, this one in 1656 70,000 gold scudi from the local merchant Nicolò Valle to the church's 'Fabbriceria', the body charged with building maintenance. It was decided to spend the money on a completely new building, designed by

Gerolamo Quadrio Gerolamo is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Gerolamo Cardano (1501–1576), Italian Renaissance mathematician, physician, astrologer and gambler * Gerolamo Emiliani (1486–1537), Italian humanitarian, founder of the Somaschi ...

, chief architect of

Milan Cathedral Milan Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Milano ; lmo, Domm de Milan ), or Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica of the Nativity of Saint Mary ( it, Basilica cattedrale metropolitana di Santa Maria Nascente, links=no), is the cathedral church of Milan, Lombard ...

, who decided to retain the new chancel. The foundation stone was laid on 3 April 1659 and work took about ten years.

References

Bibliography

* Luigi Pagnoni, ''Chiese parrocchiali bergamasche: appunti di storia e arte'', Bergamo 1992, 324. * A. Mandelli, ''Alzano nei secoli'', Bergamo, 1988 * Riccardo Panigada, ''La Basilica diSan martino e le sue sagrestie'', Normaeditrice, 2009. {{coord, 45.73376, 9.73075, format=dms, type:landmark_region:IT, display=title Basilica churches in Lombardy Baroque church buildings in Lombardy Buildings and structures in the Province of Bergamo