Santa Maria della Croce is a Roman Catholic sanctuary and

minor basilica Basilicas are Catholic church buildings that have a designation, conferring special privileges, given by the Pope. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectura ...

in Crema, in the

Cremona Province The province of Cremona (; Cremunés: ; ; Casalasco-Viadanese: ) is a province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital city is Cremona. The province occupies the central section of Padana Plain, so the whole territory is flat, without any ...

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

History

The church was built in the Lombard Renaissance style about one and a half mile from the city center, outside the medieval walls, on the road to

Bergamo Bergamo ( , ; ) is a city in the Alps, alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from the alpine lakes Lake Como, Como and Lake Iseo, Iseo and 70 km (43 mi) from Lake Garda, Garda and Lake ...

where a

Marian apparition A Marian apparition is a reported supernatural appearance of Mary, the mother of Jesus. While sometimes described as a type of vision, apparitions are generally regarded as external manifestations, whereas visions are more often understood as ...

may have affected Caterina degli Uberti, a woman from Cremona. Legend holds that on 13 April 1490, after she was fatally wounded by her husband in a wooded area close to the town, and wishing to die in the Grace of God, she implored the help of the Virgin Mary who, it is said, ferried her to a nearby farmhouse. She was then moved inside the city walls where she died, after receiving the

last rites The last rites, also known as the Commendation of the Dying, are the last prayers and ministrations given to an individual of Christian faith, when possible, shortly before death. The Commendation of the Dying is practiced in liturgical Chri ...

and pardoning her husband. A simple wooden cross was placed where the murder came about. However prodigious phenomena continued to happen time and again transforming the site into a holy place to such an extent that the local authorities decided to build a sanctuary.

Bramante Donato Bramante (1444 – 11 April 1514), born as Donato di Pascuccio d'Antonio and also known as Bramante Lazzari, was an Italian architect and painter. He introduced Renaissance architecture to Milan and the High Renaissance style to Rom ...

made a model for the church, but the work was commissioned to his assistant Giovanni Battagio, who added the four outer circular structures. Battagio left the project around 1500, and was replaced by Giovanni Montanaro. The sanctuary, in an unfinished state, was damaged in the 1514 siege of the city by the

Duchy of Milan The Duchy of Milan (; ) was a state in Northern Italy, created in 1395 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, then the lord of Milan, and a member of the important Visconti of Milan, Visconti family, which had been ruling the city since 1277. At that time, ...

. In 1694 the sanctuary was committed to the care of the

Discalced Carmelites The Discalced Carmelites, known officially as the Order of the Discalced Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel () or the Order of Discalced Carmelites (; abbreviation, abbrev.: OCD; sometimes called in earlier times, ), is a Catho ...

who, in 1706, began the construction of the annexed convent. In 1710 they also added a bell tower. In 1914 the original pavement, in cotto, was replaced with the current tiles. Santa Maria della Croce was named a

by Pope

Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

in 1958. In recent years, the sanctuary was entrusted to the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit, a religious community of men who live a contemplative and apostolic life and currently serve also in Milan, Rome, and Sicily.

Description

Battagio designed a

Greek cross The Christian cross, with or without a figure of Jesus, Christ included, is the main religious symbol of Christianity. A cross with a figure of Christ affixed to it is termed a crucifix and the figure is often referred to as the ''corpus'' (La ...

plan, with a c. 35 m-tall central structure (circular externally, octagonal internally), to which four smaller units, with a height of some 15 m, are joined. The building's exterior consists of undecorated bricks. Interno-santamariadellacroce

Externally the main central unit is divided into four rows, the lower having pilasters, the second a gallery with

mullioned window A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid sup ...

s, while the third has triple arches forming double mullioned windows with decorated

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

. The original project for the uppermost gallery was modified by Montanaro along the lines of the Venetian gothic style; it has small columns, trefoil arches and a decorated parapet similar to that of the second gallery, with roundels in the shape of octagonal snowflakes, stars, sun rays and Greek crosses. The western side minor body houses the church's main entrance with a portal surmounted by a tympanum. The three other side bodies present analogous features. The upper part of the side bodies merges with the central loggia of the second row. The bell tower is decorated with rustication, and is divided into six levels, including the

lantern A lantern is a source of lighting, often portable. It typically features a protective enclosure for the light sourcehistorically usually a candle, a oil lamp, wick in oil, or a thermoluminescence, thermoluminescent Gas mantle, mesh, and often a ...

at the top. One of the side bodies is built on two levels. In the lower level is the crypt and on the upper level the main altar, which comes from the city's cathedral and is highly decorated in

lapis lazuli Lapis lazuli (; ), or lapis for short, is a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color. Originating from the Persian word for the gem, ''lāžward'', lapis lazuli is ...

and bronze. The altarpiece is an oil on canvas by Benedetto Rusconi, nicknamed ''il Diana'', depicting the Assumption of Mary among the twelve apostles. The presbytery has four statues of the Doctors of the Church, executed by Agostino de Fondulis. The side altars have a rich stucco decoration (1585) by Giovan Battista Castello. The altarpieces are by Antonio Campi,

Bernardino Campi Bernadino Campi (1522–1591) was an Italian Renaissance painter from Cremona, who worked in Reggio Emilia. He is known as one of the teachers of Sofonisba Anguissola and of Giovanni Battista Trotti (il Malosso). In Cremona, his extended family o ...

, and Carlo Urbino. Other artists active in the interior paintings and frescoes, include Benedetto Rusconi, Giovanni Battista Grandi, Aurelio Gatti, Angelo Bacchetta and the Torricelli brothers from Lugano. Internally the dome is decorated with the ''Mystic Visions of St. Therese of Avila'' by Giacomo Parravicino (1702). Image:S maria della croce CREMA 01 interno.jpg, Central altar during a eucharistic adoration File:S maria della croce CREMA 03 cristo morto.jpg, The death of Jesus of

File:S maria della croce CREMA 02 caterina e madonna.jpg, The

miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...

: Caterina meets Our Lady

References

External links

*{{commons-inline 15th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Maria della Croce Renaissance architecture in Lombardy

History

Description

See also

References

Further reading

External links