Front_view_of_the_Basilica_di_San_Fedele

The Basilica of San Fedele in

Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label=Comasco dialect, Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and ...

is located in the city center and is dedicated to Saint Fidelis martyr. It derives from an earlier

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

church, dating from the seventh century, dedicated to

Euphemia Euphemia ( el, Εὐφημία; "well-spoken f), known as the All-praised in the Eastern Orthodox Church, was a virgin, who was martyred for her faith at Chalcedon in 303 AD. According to tradition, Euphemia was arrested for refusing to offer ...

Architecture

The present church dates from 1120, the building is Romanesque, and not only; the original three naves irregular grafted onto a central plant, also irregular due to the smaller size compared to the two main

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

of the

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...

. In the back there is a barrel vault in the nave with bone-arched pediment. The restoration of Antonio Giussani altered the facade (1914) and bell tower (1905). Farm use of Roman pieces are carved above the door back in Romanesque capitals and adapted to ambulatory font north of lion terrier.

External

Facade

The

neo-Romanesque Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

facade of San Fedele, rebuilt from scratch in 1914, has a central

Rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' w ...

Bell tower

Probably built at the same time that the basilica, had collapsed in the earthquake of 3 January 1117. It was rebuilt in 1271. It tilted over the years, so it was demolished in 1905 to a height of m. 11.90 and then rebuilt.

Portal

At the outside there are interesting details like the central apse polygonal three-story crowned by loggia from the thirteenth century. and flanked by the ancient pointed portal dating from the eleventh and twelfth centuries, also called portal of the dragon with medieval

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

.. According to the most common hypothesis is represented prophet

Habakkuk Habakkuk, who was active around 612 BC, was a prophet whose oracles and prayer are recorded in the Book of Habakkuk, the eighth of the collected twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible. He is revered by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Almost al ...

with baskets of food he brought for St. Daniel, and below it is a carved

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

of Romanesque depicting "Daniel on the throne in the lions' den."

Plan of the basilica

File:PiantaSanFedele.JPG 1. Ark Gothic Saint Fidelis of 1365; 2. Votive frescoes (thirteenth-fourteenth centuries); 3. Chapel of the Crucifix; 4. Chapel of Mary; 5. Altar of suffrage; 6. Chapel of

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; 7. Chapel of Mary of the Snow; 8. Paintings and sculptures of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The interior has three naves and three apses presbytery, covered by a dome and surrounded by an ambulatory. Along the ambulatory, there are medieval votive frescoes. In the chapel of the Crucifix, there is an impressive marble altar contains the crucifix in

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painted on the apse by Isidoro Bianchi in 1623. God the Father and the risen Christ dominate the center of three circles. In the first circle appear some holy ( Orsola, Marta, Apollonia,

Catherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...

, Agatha,

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) accompanied by S. Peter Martyr, and other saints. In the second are grouped saints, bishops and popes (

Vincenzo Vincenzo is an Italian male given name, derived from the Latin name Vincentius (the verb ''vincere'' means to win or to conquer). Notable people with the name include: Art * Vincenzo Amato (born 1966), Italian actor and sculptor *Vincenzo Bell ...

, Lorenzo, Sebastian,

Carlo Borromeo Charles Borromeo ( it, Carlo Borromeo; la, Carolus Borromeus; 2 October 1538 – 3 November 1584) was the Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584 and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was a leading figure of the Counter-Reformation combat ...

Bernard Bernard (''Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "brav ...

, and others). In the third we find a host of angels and archangels. Four paintings with scenes of the Passion painted by Carlo Innocenzo Carloni of Scaria complete the decoration of the chapel located at the end of the south aisle. At the end of the north aisle, there is the chapel of the Blessed Virgin Purified represented by a seventeenth-century statue in gilded wood. The bowl is painted with frescoes of the Assumption of the Virgin attributed to the painter Domenico Caresana and Francesco Carpano. At the sides of the altarpiece there are four seventeenth-century frescoes of

the Marriage of the Virgin The Marriage of the Virgin is the subject in Christian art depicting the marriage of the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph. The marriage is not mentioned in the canonical Gospels but is covered in several apocryphal sources and in later redactions, n ...

the Nativity The nativity of Jesus, nativity of Christ, birth of Jesus or birth of Christ is described in the biblical gospels of Luke and Matthew. The two accounts agree that Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judaea, his mother Mary was engaged to a man ...

, the Annunciation to the Shepherds and the

Adoration of the Magi The Adoration of the Magi or Adoration of the Kings is the name traditionally given to the subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having found Jesus by following a star, ...

. The first chapel on the right has different characteristics from the others. The ceiling is lined with

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

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, and on the wall there is a triptych painted in 1504 by Giovanni Andrea De Magistris representing Mary with Child between Saints Sebastian and

Rocco Rocco or Rocko is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: First name * Rocco Baldelli (born 1981), American Major League Baseball player and manager of the Minnesota Twins * Rocco Botte (born 1983), American actor an ...

; below there is an urn which contained the remains (now venerated in the Church of "Jesus") of sant'Amanzio bishop of Como. :it:Basilica di San Fedele (Como)

Images

File:ParicolarePortaleSanFedele2007.jpg File:DSC_0241_copia.jpg File:Como,_san_fedele,_retro_01.JPG File:Como_-_San_Fedele_-_Madonna_in_Mandorla.jpg File:Como_-_San_Fedele_-_Anna_Selbdritt_und_Gnadenstuhl.jpg File:Lombardia_Como3_tango7174.jpg File:AbsideSanFedeleComo.jpg

References

* http://www.diocesidicomo.it/como/s2magazine/index1.jsp?idPagina=22879 * http://www.parrocchiasanfedelecomo.it

External links

official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fedele Como Basilica churches in Lombardy Churches in the province of Como 7th-century churches in Italy