Santa Maria e Santa Brigida al Paradiso 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 ...

parish church located on via Benedetto Fortini in the quatiere of Gavinana in the zone of Paradiso, just south of the urban center 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, Italy. The church is also known as ''Santi Maria e Brigida alla Badiuzza di Fabroro''

History

By the 12th-century, a group of reformed

Benedictines , 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 ...

known as ''Scalzi Pulsanesi'' had a small abbey here with attached church. The abbey was dependent on a monastery in Montici. Neither convent prospered, and in 1305, the monks briefly abandoned the monastery, then known as Badiuzza di Santa Maria di Fabroro, that was prone to ''much damage due to the wars that reigned and its location in the midst of a perverse nation'' By 1416, this small monastery and church were transferred to the female Benedictine convent of

Santa Brigida al Paradiso Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnight ...

, located just down the hill. That monastery was suppressed in 1776 and the abbey church was deconsecrated. The Romanesque-style church layout is simple: it consists of a single long nave, oriented with the facade facing east, with high narrow windows. The apse is a semicircular half dome with a single window. The portico (1706) has some frescoes; the poorly conserved ''Madonna and Child'' was attributed to Pier Dandini. To the left of the nave, a wooden 15th-century ''Christ of the Cross'' is attributed to

Bernardo della Cecca Bernardo is a given name and less frequently an Italian, Portuguese and Spanish surname. Possibly from the Germanic "Bernhard". Given name People * Bernardo the Japanese (died 1557), early Japanese Christian convert and disciple of Saint Franc ...

.Rete Toscana website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria e Brigida al Paradiso 12th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches in Florence Romanesque architecture in Florence