San Francesco is a
Roman Catholic parish church, built in 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 with
Romanesque architectural elements specially in the crypt, located in the town of
Vetralla, province of Viterbo, region of Lazio, Italy.
History
A church at the site, originally dedicated to Mary, likely existed by the 7th century, but it was razed, likely in 1187 by the occupying forces of
Viterbo. A new church was begun to be erected soon after. The main altar was consecrated by
Pope Clement III (1187-1191). The church was complete and visited by
Pope Innocent III in 1207. In the 15th century, the church was assigned to the
Franciscan order
, image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg
, image_size = 200px
, caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans
, abbreviation = OFM
, predecessor =
, ...
.
The church, built mainly with
tuff stone, has a long nave without a notable transept. The semicircular apse has blind arches with tall pilasters. The flanks of the church has a few small narrow windows. The square bell tower with mullioned windows rises from the side of the apse. Of interest, the portal and interior columns have floridly decorated capitals. The crypt also has columns with decorated capitals.
Among the works inside are a tomb of Briobis by
Paolo Gualdo, and a fresco of St Ursula and the Virgins by a follower of
Benozzo Gozzoli.
American Journal of Archaeology
Volume 17 (1912), page 309.
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Francesco Vetralla
Francesco
Romanesque architecture in Lazio
Gothic architecture in Lazio
Francesco
Francesco Vetralla