Sant'Alessandro a Giogoli 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 ...

parish church located within the town limits of

Scandicci Scandicci () is a ''comune'' (municipality) of c. 50,000 inhabitants in the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region Tuscany, located about southwest of Florence. Scandicci borders the following municipalities: Campi Bisenzio, Florenc ...

in the province of the metropolitan city of

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

, region of

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

, Italy.

History

The name of the neighborhood ''Giogoli'' appears to be derived from ''gioghi'' or yokes, and may refer to the low hills of the region. A church at the site is mentioned by 10th-century; and a plaque in the adjacent cloister quoted a papal bull from 1187, wherein

Pope Gregory VIII Pope Gregory VIII ( la, Gregorius VIII; c. 1100/1105 – 17 December 1187), born Alberto di Morra, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States for two months in 1187. Becoming Pope after a long diplomatic career as Aposto ...

defined certain privileges granted to the church. The church was initially patronized by the Buondelmonti family. The Romanesque stone layout with a semi-circular apse underwent many reconstructions over the centuries, but is still maintained from the exterior. The facade has a small narrow mullioned window. Around 1712, the interior acquired a heavy

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

decoration with stucco.I dintorni di Firenze: Sulla sinistra dell'Arno I dintorni di Firenze: Sulla sinistra dell'Arno
by Guido Carocci, Florence (1907): pages 346-347. Since the 19th century, much of the nave decoration has been stripped. During World War II, bombing caused the nave roof to collapse. Of the paintings from the 18th century, the counterfacade still has a depiction of the ''Samaritan at the Well'' and the ''Baptism of Christ'' by Pietro Pertichi; in the right transept is an ''Annunciation'', a ''St Joseph'' and a ''St Francis of Assisi'' by Francesco Manetti.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alessandro Giogoli Churches in the metropolitan city of Florence 10th-century churches in Italy Romanesque architecture in Florence