San Miniato al Monte

The Basilica of San Miniato al Monte is the church of the same name Olivetans Abbey in Florence, which is one of the highest points in the city. It is a typical example of Romanesque architecture in Tuscany and is one of the most beautiful churches in Italy. The facade is a characteristic work of the Florentine Inkrustationsstils Proto-Renaissance. The church bears the honorary title of papal basilica minor.

Location

San Miniato al Monte is situated on a hill (Italian: monte ) on the south bank of the Arno above the Piazzale Michelangelo. The location of the church is a prime vantage point overlooking the city.

Appearance and history

San Miniato al Monte is a three-aisled basilica with a semicircular apse. It was probably built at the same time with the Baptistery of San Giovanni is a typical work of Inkrustationsstils. The facade is clad in white Carrara marble and dark green serpentine from Prato.

According to legend, the church was built on the place where the holy Minias died a martyr, who was beheaded under the Emperor Decius in the year 250 by Arno and his head ran up the hill under the arm. The Holy Minias was Florence's first martyr, an Armenian prince who left his home to make a pilgrimage to Rome. He arrived about 250 in Florence, where he lived as a hermit. Later a shrine was built on the hill on which he died, built, and it was there until the 8th century a chapel. The construction of the present church was begun in 1013 by Bishop Alibrando. First, the church was a Benedictine monastery, it was cluniazensisch and since 1373 the church of Olivetans monks is operated. The monks produce famous alcoholic beverages, honey and herbal teas that they sell in a shop next to the church by gourmets.

The geometrically ordered marble façade was probably begun around 1090. The guild of the cloth merchants Arte di Calimala, which was responsible for the maintenance and operation of the church from 1288, funded the work. The upper parts of the facade were finished only in the 12th century or later. The mosaic of Christ between the Virgin and the Holy Minias was laid in 1260. The never completed bell tower collapsed in 1499 and was replaced in 1523. During the siege of Florence in 1530 he was employed by the defenders as an artillery post. Michelangelo protected him from enemy fire by letting him wrap with mattresses.

The interior of San Miniato al Monte is very unusual because of the after construction has hardly changed choir is placed on a raised platform above the large crypt. The paved floor dates from the year 1207. The center of the nave is of the freestanding Cappella del Crucifix (German Chapel of the Crucifix ) dominated, which was designed in 1448 by Michelozzo. The terracotta decoration of the vault was made by Luca della Robbia.

The crypt is the oldest part of the abbey church. In the high altar are said to be the bones of St. Minias are. But there is also evidence that these were brought to Metz before San Miniato al Monte was built. In the vaults of the crypt there are frescoes by Taddeo Gaddi.

In the raised choir and presbytery there is a Romanesque roofed pulpit, which was built in 1207. The apse is dominated by a large mosaic from 1297. The crucifix above the high altar is attributed to Luca della Robbia. The sacristy is decorated with a large fresco cycle of the life of Saint Benedict by Spinello Aretino ( 1387 ).

The Cappella del Cardinale del Porto Gallo left side of the nave was built by Antonio Manetti in 1473. There was a created by Antonio Rosselino tomb of the late Cardinal James of Lusitania in 1459, a nephew of the Portuguese King Alfonso V, buried.

The church was restored in the years 1858-1861, 1902-1912 and 1924.

Monastery, fortress and Cemetery

Next to the Abbey church is the monastery, which was built from 1425, as well as the fortified palace of the bishop from 1295, which was later used as a barracks and hospital for plague victims. The whole complex is surrounded by defensive walls, originally built hastily by Michelangelo during the siege of 1553 and under Cosimo I to a proper fortress (Italian: Fortezza ) were expanded. In 1854, the burial was allowed in and around the church as a result of a cholera outbreak of the city administration. The walls of the Fortezza today surrounded the building belonging to the cemetery Cimitero delle Porte Sante. It was built together with the building up to stairway leading factory in 1868 to a design by Nicola Matas. Through his illustrious location was the cemetery of the predestined place to bury the wealthy and well-deserved citizens of the city, which was sponsored by the city administration. In the 70s of the 18th century, the first stately funeral chapels were erected in the cemetery. It can be found the graves of the following celebrities:

• Giuseppe Abbati (1836-1868), Italian painter
• Libero Andreotti (1875-1933), Italian sculptor
• Pietro Annigoni (1910-1988), Italian painter
• Pellegrino Artusi (1820-1911), author of the famous Italian cookbook La cucina e l' arte scienza in di mangiare bene
• Mario Cecchi Gori (1920-1993), Italian film producer
• Antonio Ciseri (1821-1891), Italian painter
• Carlo Collodi (1826-1890), Italian writer and creator of Pinocchio
• Augusto Conti (1822-1905), Italian educator and philosopher
• Giovanni Papini (1881-1956), Italian writer
• Vasco Pratolini (1913-1991), Italian writer
• François Sabatier (1818-1891), French scholar
• Caroline Unger (1803-1877), Austrian singer
• Pasquale Villari (1827-1917), Italian historian and politician

Others

• The church is an important scene in the film Obsession ( German: Schwarzer Engel ) by Brian de Palma.
• The Master of San Miniato, a painter of unknown from the Florence of the 15th century, got its Notnamen after the church in which there are eight of his pictures.