The church of San Pancrazio is found in central

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

, in front of the piazza named after the same saint. A church at the site was first linked to the nearby

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

Abbey of

San Siro Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, which is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has a seating capacity of 80,018, making it one of the largest stadiums i ...

in the 11th century. A document from the 16th century notes that the church had been for centuries endowed by prominent Genoese families including the Calvi and

Pallavicini The House of Pallavicini, also known as Pallavicino and formerly known as Pelavicino, is an ancient Italian noble family founded by Oberto II ''Pelavicino'' of the Frankish Obertenghi family. The Pallavicini of Genoa The first recorded member o ...

.Pareto et al. page 116 The present layout dates into the 18th century. In 1684, the church was demolished by the bombardment of Genoa by the naval forces of

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of ...

. The architect Antonio Maria Ricca designed the present structure. The church was again damaged by aerial bombing during the Second World War. It is now attached to the

Sovereign Military Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...

as evidenced by the cross above the portal. The apse frescoes were completed by Giacomo Antonio Boni, while the triptych of the ''Life of St. Pancras'', attributed to

Adriaen Isenbrandt Adriaen Isenbrandt or Adriaen Ysenbrandt (between 1480 and 1490 – July 1551) was a painter in Bruges, in the final years of Early Netherlandish painting, and the first of the Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting of the Northern Renaissance. ...

, has been reconstructed within a decorative marble main altar.

Sources

Official site from the Diocese of Genoa
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pancrazio Genoa 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Pancrazio Baroque architecture in Liguria