San Michele is a Romanesque-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 in the city of

Cremona Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' ( Po Valley). It is the capital of th ...

, region of Lombardy,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

History

According to tradition, it would have been built by the

Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 and ...

, who venerated the archangel St Michael, although its existence is documented from the 8th century, prior to Lombard rule of Cremona. In the 11th century a new basilica was built. In the 13th century it received a new campanile (belfry), and the naves were vaulted with pointed arches. In the

crypt A crypt (from Latin ''crypta'' "vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics. Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a chur ...

are elements dating to the early Middle Ages crypt, one of which attributed to the Lombard age. The apse, as well as the other church of San Vincenzo in Cremona, resembles that of the

Nonantola Abbey Nonantola Abbey, dedicated to Saint Sylvester, is a former a Benedictine monastery and ''prelature nullius'' in the commune of Nonantola, c. 10 km north-east of Modena, in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy. The abbey church remains as a basil ...

. The church includes a statue portraying "St Michael Subjugating the Beast" and located to the right of the high altar.

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Michele Cremona 13th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy

Michele Michele (), is an Italian male given name, akin to the English male name Michael. Michele (pronounced ), is also an English female given name that is derived from the French Michèle. It is a variant spelling of the more common (and identically ...

Romanesque architecture in Cremona