There are few testimonies of the original medieval convent and its Renaissance path that remain to this day. The Augustinian convent of Acquapendente was founded towards the end of 1290 and with it the adjoining church of Sant’Agostino began to be built.
The crypt, located on the lower floor of the basilica, from the Romanesque period (X-XI century), has naves of equal height, with cross vaults. The crypt is divided into three transverse and nine longitudinal naves. Located under the transept and apse of the church above, with its 24 columns, it has nine small naves with ribbed cross vaults, which form a characteristic T.
On the hill called Poggio del Massaro, there is the monastery and the church of Santa Chiara. On May 27, 1333, the pontifical authority granted the Provincial Minister of Rome, Fra Tommaso di Acquapendente, the possibility of building the monastery to make it the seat of the community of the Poor Clares.
The church of Santo Stefano was built in 1600 by the bishop Giovan Battista Febei. The bombing of the Second World War completely destroyed it, precisely on 8 June 1944. Bishop Luigi Boccadoro had it completely rebuilt in 1953 and it was reopened for worship on 12 December 1954.
The church of San Francesco was initially titled in Santa Maria, and consecrated in 1149 by Monsignor Aldobrandini, bishop of Orvieto. In confirmation of the original dedication to Santa Maria, we still find the Assumption of Mary depicted in the lunette of the church facade, as well as the inscription inside the church on the triumphal arch “Assumpta est Maria in coelum”.
The church of Santa Vittoria is the oldest parish church of Acquapendente. Built in the Gothic style, it was remodeled and completely transformed in the mid-18th century by the Prior Don Giovanni Vitali, at his expense, also adorning it with a wooden statue in honor of the Madonna del Fiore made by Giovanni Bulgarini da Piancastagnaio.
Already in 1588 the existence of the church of San Lorenzo in the Chronicles written by the local chronicler Paolo Biondi was mentioned, as a building placed in the fifth place of the parishes of Acquapendente. Concrete news of the church building is found more conspicuous only in 1871 when the parish seat was transferred to the church of San Michele Arcangelo, and later in 1875 to the church of Santo Stefano. In 1877 the previous church was demolished and the new one was inaugurated on a project by Guglielmo Melluzzi dedicated to the saints Lorenzo Levita and martyr and Michael the Archangel, in memory of the previous buildings of worship.
Card Author: Luca Della Rocca Location: Largo Sant’Agostino Date: XIII Secolo Go to the DescriprionVirtual Tour Virtual Tour Close Few testimonies remain of the original medieval church and its Renaissance appearance. The Augustinian convent of Acquapendente was founded towards the end of 1290 and with it began to build the church of Sant’Agostino, characterized by…
Along Via Roma, behind the church of Sant’Agostino is the church of Sant’Antonio Abate and Santa Caterina. The façade, which dates back more than a century ago, was built to a design by the architect Guglielmo Meluzzi and incorporates the plastic motifs of the ground floor of the nearby Sant’Agostino bell tower.
The church is harmonic as a whole, with very simple lines, without decorative cycles. To decorate the church we find only the many works that over time have come from other buildings and arranged in different environments. The first thing you notice are the paintings of considerable size, arranged along the entire perimeter of the church, which cover the walls of the aisles and the counter-façade wall. The paintings are nothing more than the works created every year, in competition for the manifestation of the “I Pugnaloni”.
