San Biagio is a Neoclassical-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 ...

collegiate church located in the town of

Pollenza Pollenza is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Macerata in the Italian region Marche, located about southwest of Ancona and about southwest of Macerata. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 6,086 and an area of .All demogr ...

, province of Macerata, region of

Marche Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...

, Italy.

History

The church was designed in 1834 by De Mattia of

Treia Treia is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Macerata in the central Marche (Italy). It is north of Pollenza, west of Macerata, and north-northeast of Tolentino. Geography The site of the abandoned Roman municipium of Trea is situated ...

with a Greek Cross layout. The areal had since 1269, housed a small Romanesque church dependent on the Rambona Abbey, complete with an adjacent convent and cloister. That church was razed in 1791 to erect one befitting the population increase. The architect Bracci had initially planned a church resembling the Pantheon in Rome, but the ceiling collapsed. This led to the reconstruction by De Mattia in 1834, whose design was influenced by a church designed by Valadier for

Monte San Pietrangeli Monte San Pietrangeli is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Fermo in the Italian region Marche, located about south of Ancona and about north of Ascoli Piceno Ascoli Piceno (; la, Asculum; dialetto ascolano: Ascule) is a town and ' ...

. The façade has tall columns holding a triangular tympanum over a pronaos. The tall (35 meter) belltower was completed by 1844, and the base starts with the ancient campanile tower. The cupola, main chapel, and nave were frescoed by Virginio Monti. Behind the main altar is a canvas depicting ''St John the Baptist and St Blaise below the Virgin''. The Chapels belong to local confraternities: on the left, the ''Chapel of Holiest Sacrament'', decorated by Giovanni Cingolani with a depiction of the ''Story and Glory of the Eurcharist''; on the right, the ''Chapel of the Holiest Crucifix'' depicting the ''Passion of Christ'' by Biagio Biagetti. The interior decoration also includes paintings by at

Domenico Tojetti Domenico Tojetti (1807–1892) was an Italian American painter. Born in Rocca di Papa, near Rome, the artist frequented the Roman circle of the Torlonia Princes, providing frescos in the ballroom of Villa Torlonia under the direction of his te ...

and Giuseppe Fammilume. Above the entry portal is an organ made by the Callido family in 1793.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biagio Pollenza Neoclassical architecture in le Marche 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy

Neoclassical church buildings in Italy