The church of San Giovanni Domnarum is one of the oldest 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 cap ...

. In the crypt, which was rediscovered after centuries in 1914, remains of frescoes are visible.

History

The church was founded (over the remains of a Roman bath building) around the year 654 at the behest of

Gundeberga Gundeberga or Gundeperga, queen of the Lombards, (591-..) was the daughter of Theodelinda and her second husband, the Lombard king Agilulf. She married Arioald, ''(king of the Lombards; 626-636)'' and his successor Rothari, ''(king of the Lombards; ...

, wife of

Rothari Rothari (or Rothair) ( 606 – 652), of the house of Arodus, was king of the Lombards from 636 to 652; previously he had been duke of Brescia. He succeeded Arioald, who was an Arian like himself, and was one of the most energetic of Lombard kings ...

and

Arioald Arioald was the Lombard king of Italy from 626 to 636. Duke of Turin, he married the princess Gundeberga, daughter of King Agilulf and his queen Theodelinda. He was, unlike his father-in-law, an Arian who did not accept Catholicism. Arioald de ...

and daughter of Queen

Theodelinda Theodelinda also spelled ''Theudelinde'' ( 570–628 AD), was a queen of the Lombards by marriage to two consecutive Lombard rulers, Autari and then Agilulf, and regent of Lombardia during the minority of her son Adaloald, and co-regent when he ...

and

Agilulf Agilulf ( 555 – April 616), called ''the Thuringian'' and nicknamed ''Ago'', was a duke of Turin and king of the Lombards from 591 until his death. A relative of his predecessor Authari, Agilulf was of Thuringian origin and belonged to the A ...

to accommodate her burial or to be the seat of the spring. baptismal of females, hence the title to St. John the Baptist and the specification domnarum (i.e. "of women"). Perhaps King Rothari was buried in the church. It is probably the first Catholic church erected by the

Lombard kings The Kings of the Lombards or ''reges Langobardorum'' (singular ''rex Langobardorum'') were the monarchs of the Lombards, Lombard people from the early 6th century until the Lombardic identity became lost in the 9th and 10th centuries. After 568, ...

in the city of Pavia. The church had a prominent role in the city panorama until about the year 1000, also thanks to the patrimonial endowment that had been assigned to it by the founder. Between the ninth and tenth centuries a copious series of imperial diplomas were issued for the church, in which the foundation of Gundiperga is mentioned, while in an act of the bishop of Pavia Bernard I of 1129 the "pro anima" masses of Queen Gundeberga are attested. they were still celebrated in the church. In 1611 the provost Torriani, wishing to adapt the Romanesque building to the liturgical needs that emerged from the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation, it has been described a ...

, undertook building interventions that heavily influenced the appearance of the building: the three naves were partially demolished and the church became a single hall, with side chapels. Instead, the crypt and the bell tower remained intact.

Architecture

The building dates back to the 17th century and has a single hall, with side chapels and a square choir. The façade, on the other hand, dates back to the 15th century and in the central band it has a terracotta rose window placed between two smaller rose windows. The mighty bell tower dates back to the mid-11th century. The construction uses various materials of Roman origin with decorative intent, especially in the part next to the belfry. Immediately on the right there is a part of the ancient baptistery annexed to the church, and in the first chapel, also on the right, there is an altarpiece, painted by the Milanese Giovan Battista Sassi, which depicts Saint Andrew Avellino dying in front of the altar. In the lunette of the presbytery there is a fresco with the Eternal Father by

Federico Faruffini Federico Faruffini (1833–1869) was an Italian painter and engraver of historical subjects, in a style that combines the styles and themes of Realism with the diffuse outlines and lively colors of Scapigliatura painters. Biography Born in Sesto ...

. The construction of the crypt probably dates from the mid-10th to the beginning of the following century. It develops entirely under the current floor of the church and is accessed by a staircase from which you go down, on the north side of the church nave. Due to the interventions promoted in 1611, the crypt was closed and was used only as an ossuary. Most of the supports are trapezoidal in shape with no capitals and shelves. On the other hand, the two columns that frame the altar bear bare capitals, some of the Roman age, others Lombard. The frescoes (dated to the 12th century) mostly portray local saints; there is a scene from the life of John the Baptist, very compromised. On the right pillar are depicted Saint Syrus and

pope Gregory I Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregor ...

, holding a volume in his hand. On the small pillar in front of Saint Syrus, there is the figure of Saint

Juventius of Pavia Saint Iuventius (or Iuvence) was a bishop of Pavia during the 1st century. Together with Syrus of Pavia he was sent there by Saint Hermagoras. Both Iuventius and Syrus are reported to have been the first bishop of Pavia. Iuventius has two feas ...

, the second bishop of the city. The discovery of the crypt, which had been buried for centuries and reduced to a burial ground, took place on April 18, 1914, thanks to the initiative of Monsignor Faustino Gianani who, following the indications of many historical sources, had a tunnel dug in the courtyard behind. During the work following the discovery, the level of the original pavement was not recognized among the debris and was removed. Therefore, the current level is lower than the original one and corresponds to that of the Roman thermal environment, where the

hypocaust A hypocaust ( la, hypocaustum) is a system of central heating in a building that produces and circulates hot air below the floor of a room, and may also warm the walls with a series of pipes through which the hot air passes. This air can warm th ...

of the Roman calidarium was located (later used in the Middle Ages as a quarry for bricks and building materials.

References

{{Reflist

Bibliography

* ''Musei Civici di Pavia. Pavia longobarda e capitale di regno. Secoli VI- X'', a cura di S. Lomartire, D. Tolomelli, Skira, Milano, 2017. * Luigi Carlo Schiavi, ''La cripta di San Giovanni Domnarum, in Pavia. Rilievi e nuovi studi sull'architettura'', Tipografia Commerciale Pavese, Pavia, 2010. Roman Catholic churches in Pavia Romanesque architecture in Pavia Lombard architecture