San Giacomo is a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

-style,

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church located at the ''Piazza San Giacomo'',

Foligno Foligno (; Southern Umbrian: ''Fuligno'') is an ancient town of Italy in the province of Perugia in east central Umbria, on the Topino river where it leaves the Apennines and enters the wide plain of the Clitunno river system. It is located so ...

, Italy.

History

The site on which the church was built in 1402 was originally the site of an old hospice, dedicated to St. James, as attested in a document of

Pope Innocent III Pope Innocent III ( la, Innocentius III; 1160 or 1161 – 16 July 1216), born Lotario dei Conti di Segni (anglicized as Lothar of Segni), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 to his death in 16 J ...

in 1210. The hospice and its chapel were passed on the Servite Order by bishop Paperone de' Paperoni in 1273. They transformed the main hall of the hospice into a church. The present church was built in 1402 under Prior Filippo di Massiolo da Foligno, incorporating the older church at its crossing. This was probably largely financed by

Ugolino III Trinci Ugolino III Trinci (died 1415) was Lord of Foligno in the early 15th century. The son of Trincia II Trinci, he was justice gonfalonier and "Captain of the People" of Foligno from 1386, succeeding to his brother Corrado, and receiving the title of ...

, the lord of Foligno. The church was modified in the 17th and 18th centuries. The earthquake of 1997 badly damaged the church; restoration of the church was finished in 2000. The Servite Order remained with a small presence in Foligno until 1994 but their convent had been closed in 1860. The

façade with its white and red bands and large window has remained unfinished. One enters the church through a beautiful

ogival An ogive ( ) is the roundly tapered end of a two-dimensional or three-dimensional object. Ogive curves and surfaces are used in engineering, architecture and woodworking. Etymology The earliest use of the word ''ogive'' is found in the 13th c ...

portal. Two inscriptions flank the portal, one records the enlargement of the church in 1402, while the other shows the arms of the Servites. The lower part of the

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 ...

was built at the same time, but the upper part was rebuilt in the 17th century. The three-naved interior was redecorated in Baroque style during the period 1721-1729. The presbytery was rebuilt by the bishop Luca Cibo. He also probably added the

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...

around 1490. The main altar stands before a construction with five winged angels on top of the gilded columns. The three statues behind the altar represent the Grieving Madonna flanked by the apostles

James the Great James the Great, also known as James, son of Zebedee, Saint James the Great, Saint James the Greater, Saint James the Elder, or Saint Jacob (Aramaic ܝܥܩܘܒ ܒܪ ܙܒܕܝ, Arabic يعقوب, Hebrew בן זבדי , '' Yaʿăqōḇ'', Latin '' ...

and

James the Less James the Less ( grc-gre, Ἰάκωβος ὁ μικρός ) is a figure of early Christianity, one of the Twelve chosen by Jesus. He is also called "the Minor", "the Little", "the Lesser", or "the Younger", according to translation. He is not to ...

and were sculpted by Antonio Calcioni in 1702. There are several works of art over the side altars. The first side altar on the left is dedicated to St. Roche and was constructed in the period 1480-1485 to thank the saint for protecting the city during the plague that affected the city in 1476-81. The processional banner over the altar, attributed to Pierantonio Mezzastris, depicts St. Roch commending the people of Foligno to the Redeemer. It was first used in procession in 1481. Adjoining the church is a cloister with two arcades on top of each other. The lower arcade dates from 1442-1454, while the upper arcade is an addition from the 17th century. The

lunette A lunette (French ''lunette'', "little moon") is a half-moon shaped architectural space, variously filled with sculpture, painted, glazed, filled with recessed masonry, or void. A lunette may also be segmental, and the arch may be an arc take ...

s of the lower arcade show the damaged frescoes by Giovan Battista Michelini, Il Folignate depicting scenes from the life of San Filippo Benizi (1611), a canonized

general superior A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of a religious institute in the Catholic Church and some other Christian denominations. The superior general usually holds supreme executive authority in the religious community, while th ...

of the Servites. The Chapter Room retains the original windows of the ancient hospice. The sacristy of the church stands on the same spot as the chapel of the old hospice.

References

Key to Umbria: The Church of San Giacomo
* (in Italian) * (In Italian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Giacomo Foligno Roman Catholic churches in Foligno Gothic architecture in Foligno 15th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches completed in 1402