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The Basilica of San Michele Maggiore is a
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 in
Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the capit ...
, region of Lombardy, Italy. The building, dating to the 11-12th centuries, is a well-preserved example of the Lombard- Romanesque style.


History

Archeological evidence, such as
Ostrogoth The Ostrogoths ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the large Gothic populations who ...
silverware found at the site in 1968, suggests the site may have housed a early Christian basilica dating to the fifth century. The silverware is now preserved in the
Pavia Civic Museums The Civic Museums of Pavia (Musei Civici di Pavia) are a number of museums in Pavia, Lombardy, northern Italy. They are housed in the Castello Visconteo, or Visconti Castle, built in 1360 by Galeazzo II Visconti, soon after taking the city, a ...
. Between 662 and 671, a church was built at the desire of King Grimoald. Dedicated to St Michael, it was built on the location of the Lombard Palace chapel. This church was destroyed by a fire in 1004, and only the lower part of the bell tower dates to the 7th-century church. The construction of the current crypt, choir and transept was begun in the late 11th century and was completed by 1130. The vaults of the nave, originally with two grossly squared groin-vaulted spans, were replaced in 1489 by the design of master architect Agostino de Candia in four rectangular spans, and the structure was created by his father the renown Pavia
master mason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
Iacopo da Candia. The basilica was the seat of numerous important events, including the coronations of
Berengar I Berengar I ( la, Berengarius, Perngarius; it, Berengario; – 7 April 924) was the king of Italy from 887. He was Holy Roman Emperor between 915 and his death in 924. He is usually known as Berengar of Friuli, since he ruled the March of Friu ...
(888), Guy III (889),
Louis III Louis III may refer to: * Louis the Younger, sometimes III of Germany (835–882) * Louis III of France (865–882) * Louis the Blind, Louis III, Holy Roman Emperor, (c. 880–928) * Louis the Child, sometimes III of Germany (893–911) * Louis III ...
(900),
Rudolph II Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the Hous ...
(922),
Hugh Hugh may refer to: *Hugh (given name) Noblemen and clergy French * Hugh the Great (died 956), Duke of the Franks * Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France under his father, Robert II * Hugh, Duke of Alsace (died 895), modern-day ...
(926),
Berengar II Berengar II ( 900 – 4 August 966) was the King of Italy from 950 until his deposition in 961. He was a scion of the Anscarid and Unruoching dynasties, and was named after his maternal grandfather, Berengar I. He succeeded his father as Marg ...
and his son
Adalbert Adalbert is a German given name which means "noble bright" or "noble shining", derived from the words ''adal'' (meaning noble) and ''berht'' (shining or bright). Alternative spellings include Adelbart, Adelbert and Adalberto. Derivative names inclu ...
(950),
Arduin ''Arduin'' is a fictional universe and fantasy role-playing system created in the mid-1970s by David A. Hargrave. It was the first published "cross-genre" fantasy RPG, with everything from interstellar wars to horror and historical drama, althou ...
(1002), Henry II (1004) and
Frederick Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on ...
(1155).


Architecture

San Michele Maggiore can be considered the prototype of other important medieval churches in Pavia such as
San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro (Italian for "Saint Peter in Golden Sky") is a Catholic basilica (and a former cathedral) of the Augustinians in Pavia, Italy, in the Lombardy region. Its name refers to the mosaics of gold leaf behind glass tesserae that ...
and San Teodoro. However, it differs from latter in the use of
sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
instead of bricks, and for its Latin cross layout with a nave and two aisles and a long transept. San Michele's
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 ...
, provided with a true façade, a false apse and a barrel vault, differs from the rest of the church and constitutes a nearly independent section of the edifice. Its length (38 m, compared to the 55 m of the whole basilica), contributes to this impression. At the crossing of nave and transept is the octagonal dome, a 30 m-high asymmetrical structure supported on squinches, in the Lombard-Romanesque style. It is reportedly the earliest example of this form in Lombardy. The façade is decorated by numerous sandstone sculptures, of religious or profane themes; they are however now much deteriorated. The façade has five double and two single
mullioned window A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...
s and a cross, which are a 19th-century reconstruction of what was thought be the original scheme. Bas reliefs in horizontal bands portray human, animal and fantastic figures. Over the minor portals are portrayed
St. Ennodius Magnus Felix Ennodius (473 or 47417 July 521 AD) was Bishop of Pavia in 514, and a Latin rhetorician and poet. He was one of four Gallo-Roman aristocrats of the fifth to sixth-century whose letters survive in quantity: the others are Sidonius Ap ...
,
bishop of Pavia The Diocese of Pavia ( la, Dioecesis Papiensis) is a see of the Catholic Church in Italy. It has been a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Milan only since 1817.
, and St. Eleucadius,
archbishop of Ravenna This page is a list of Roman Catholic bishops and archbishops of Ravenna and, from 1985, of the Archdiocese of Ravenna-Cervia. The nave has four spans. The aisles have matronaea with statical function. The four chapels in correspondence of the second and four spans of the aisles are a later addition. under the apse, which has a large 16th-century fresco, is the high altar (1383) housing the remains of Sts. Ennodius and Eleucadius. The presbytery has fragments of a notable pavement mosaic with the
Labours of the Months The term Labours of the Months refers to cycles in Medieval and early Renaissance art depicting in twelve scenes the rural activities that commonly took place in the months of the year. They are often linked to the signs of the Zodiac, and are ...
and mythological themes. In the transept there is a two meter high crucifix, coated in silver leaf and commissioned by the abbess of the monastery of Santa Maria Teodote Raingarda in the second half of the 10th century. The crucifix was moved to this basilica after the suppression of the monastery in 1799. Altar of the Virgin: the altarpiece, depicting the Virgin between Saints Rocco and Sebastian was executed by
Guglielmo Caccia Guglielmo Caccia called il Moncalvo (9 May 15681625) was an Italian painter of sacred subjects in a Mannerism, Mannerist style. Biography He was born in Montabone near Acqui Terme, Acqui. He is said to have been a pupil of Lorenzo Sabbatini. He s ...
in 1601. In the left arm of the transept there is the altar of Santa Lucia, whose altarpiece, depicting the martyrdom of the saint, is also the work of Guglielmo Caccia and the baroque altar of Sant'Anna, rich in Baroque stucco, which houses a painting representing the Virgin and Child, St Joseph and St Anne by the Novarese painter Pietro Antonio de Pietri. 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 ...
, with a nave and two aisles, is located immediately under the altar: it houses beautifully decorated capitals and the monument of the Blessed Martino Salimbene (1491).


The royal coronation ceremony

The presence of two portals, north and south of the basilica and the monumental transept of the same, a feature common to several German imperial churches but completely absent in the religious architecture of
northern Italy Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative regions ...
, highlights the role of the basilica as the seat of royal coronations. The processions of the monarch's enthronement began in the small square in front of the northern portal (Piazzetta Azzani), which overlooks the
Via Francigena The Via Francigena () is an ancient road and pilgrimage route running from the cathedral city of Canterbury in England, through France and Switzerland, to Rome and then to Apulia, Italy, where there were ports of embarkation for the Holy Land. It w ...
and originally connected the basilica to the Royal Palace. Not surprisingly, the writing placed on the lintel of the portal invites you to pray to Christ for salvation using a term, vote, used in the Christian Middle Ages also for prayers addressed to the emperor's well-being. Also on the portal, a second inscription also appears around an angelic figure: ''hic est domus refughi atque consultationis'', with clear reference, in the ''domus refughi'' to the ''domus regi'' (the royal palace). Once inside the basilica, the procession moved towards the four black stones placed in the central nave, on which the throne was placed. During the month of May, when coronations generally took place, the light penetrates from the windows of the apse and of the lantern light up first the figure of the King-Year placed at the top of the mosaic of the labyrinth located on the main altar and then the beam of light, between 10.30 and 11.00 in the morning, extends over the five stones. The inscription in the center circle was added in the 19th century by the prominent philologist
Tommaso Vallauri Tommaso is an Italian given name. It has also been used as a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name A * Tommaso Acquaviva d'Aragona (1600–1672), Roman Catholic prelate * Tommaso Aldrovandini (1653–1736), Italian painter of ...
, a professor at the University of Turin:
Regibus Coronam Ferream Solemni Ritu Accepturis Heic Solium Positum Fuisse Vetus Opinio Testatur
At the end of the ceremony, the procession left the southern door (facing via Capsoni), the Porta Speciosa, where the Traditio Legis is depicted, also a representation of
Gelasius I Pope Gelasius I was the bishop of Rome from 1 March 492 to his death on 19 November 496. Gelasius was a prolific author whose style placed him on the cusp between Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages.The title of his biography by Walter Ullma ...
's doctrine of the separation of powers in the Christian world: that of the Church and that of the Empire.


See also

*
History of medieval Arabic and Western European domes The early domes of the Middle Ages, particularly in those areas recently under Byzantine control, were an extension of earlier Roman architecture. The domed church architecture of Italy from the sixth to the eighth centuries followed that of the ...


References


External links


Official website

{{portal bar, Catholicism, Italy Michele Maggiore 12th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Romanesque architecture in Pavia Basilica churches in Lombardy Romanesque architecture in Italy