Sansepolcro, formerly Borgo Santo Sepolcro, is a town and ''
comune
The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces ('' province''). The can ...
'' founded in the 11th century, located in the Italian
Province of Arezzo in the eastern part of the region of
Tuscany
it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman)
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.
Situated on the upper reaches of the
Tiber river, the town is the birthplace of the painters
Piero della Francesca,
Raffaellino del Colle (a pupil of
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual ...
),
Matteo di Giovanni,
Santi di Tito and
Angiolo Tricca. It was also the birthplace of the Italian mathematician
Luca Pacioli, and of Matteo Cioni, who translated Piero della Francesca's treatise about perspective in painting (''De prospectiva pingendi'') into Latin.
Today, the economy of the town is based on agriculture, industrial manufacturing,
food processing
Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms. Food processing includes many forms of processing foods, from grinding grain to make raw flour to home cooking to complex industr ...
and pharmaceuticals. It is the home of
Buitoni pasta, founded by Giulia Buitoni in 1827.
History
According to tradition the founding of the town came about through two 9th-century pilgrims to the
Holy Land
The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Ho ...
, Arcanus and Giles, who returned to the region and built a chapel dedicated to
Saint Leonard
Leonard of Noblac (also Leonard of Limoges or Leonard of Noblet; also known as Lienard, Linhart, Leonhard, Léonard, Leonardo, Annard; died 559), is a Frankish saint closely associated with the town and abbey of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, in Haut ...
—whose ruins now lie underneath the current
Cathedral of Sansepolcro
The Cathedral of Sansepolcro (Italian: ''Duomo di Sansepolcro''; officially a co-cathedral) is a Catholic church in Sansepolcro, Tuscany, central Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a ...
—where they established a monastic way of life. They had brought a stone from the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
(thus, ''San Sepolcro'') with them from that shrine which led to the name of the monastery, as it became a popular
pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...
site. It soon grew to become the
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')
, found ...
Abbey of Sansepolcro
The Cathedral of Sansepolcro (Italian: ''Duomo di Sansepolcro''; officially a co-cathedral) is a Catholic church in Sansepolcro, Tuscany, central Italy.
History
According to tradition, the foundations of the cathedral dates to the 9th century, ...
(the ''Badia''). The monastery was declared an
abbey nullius.
The first historical mentions of Sansepolcro date to 1012, referring to the construction of the monastery, around which a
commune began to develop due to its being declared a
market town
A market town is a Human settlement, settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular marketplace, market; this distinguished it from a village or ...
by the Emperor
Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor. The abbey chose to affiliate itself with the
monks of the
Camaldolese Order, based in the area, in the following century. During the conflicts between the
Guelfs and Ghibellines, the town's factions were headed by prominent local families, including the Pichi, Bercordati, Graziani and Bacci.
Due to its central location on the local trade routes, in the 13th century control of the town was contested and seized by various forces of the region, passing from
Uguccione della Faggiola, Lord of
Pisa
Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the ...
, to
Guido Tarlati,
Bishop of Arezzo, and his brother,
Pier Saccone Tarlati di Pietramala, who ruled it from
Città di Castello, and then to the rule of the
Papal States
The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct Sovereignty, sovereign rule of ...
. The local dialect in fact derives from the Citta' di Castello one and the Casentino valley one that arrived later. In 1367
Pope Urban V gave the town and its surrounding ''contrada'' to the
Malatesta family,
whose heirs ruled it until control was assumed by the
Republic of Florence in the 15th century with the approval of
Pope Eugene IV
Pope Eugene IV ( la, Eugenius IV; it, Eugenio IV; 1383 – 23 February 1447), born Gabriele Condulmer, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 3 March 1431 to his death in February 1447. Condulmer was a Venetian, and ...
. It was raised to the rank of a city a century later by
Pope Leo X
Pope Leo X ( it, Leone X; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521.
Born into the prominent political an ...
.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, the town was saved from destruction by the efforts of Tony Clarke, a British
Royal Horse Artillery officer who halted the Allied artillery attack in order to save Piero della Francesca's fresco
Resurrection
Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, whic ...
.
Main sights
The main church is the
Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist built in Gothic-Romanesque style in 1012–49. Other churches of note are
San Francesco and
San Lorenzo. The latter church has a ''Deposition'' by
Rosso Fiorentino.
The English writer
Aldous Huxley described the ''
Resurrection
Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, whic ...
'' by
Piero della Francesca, which is in the Museo Civico, as "the greatest painting in the world".
The museum collection includes three other works by
Piero della Francesca and many other treasures including paintings by
Santi di Tito,
Raffaellino del Colle and
Luca Signorelli.
See also
*
Convento di Montecasale
The Convento di Montecasale is a religious building in Sansepolcro, near Arezzo, Tuscany, central Italy.
The monastery dates back to 1192, when the Camaldolese built a small hermitage with a hospital and a hospice for pilgrims along the road ...
*
Diocese of Sansepolcro
*
Eduino Francini
Eduino Francini (17 December 1925 – 27 March 1944) was an Italian partisan.
Biography
Francini was born in Massa Carrara and grew up in Sansepolcro. He was the commander of a partisan company which played an important role in the ''insurrection ...
* ''
St. Quentin (Pontormo)''
*
Teatro Dante
International relations
Sister cities
Sansepolcro is
twinned
Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to:
* In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so;
* Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning
* Twinning inst ...
with:
*
Neuchâtel,
Switzerland
*
Neuves-Maisons,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
*
Sinj,
Croatia
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, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
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Notes
{{authority control
Cities and towns in Tuscany
11th-century establishments in Italy
Populated places established in the 11th century