BASILICA OF THE HOLY SEPULCHER (Basilica del Santo Sepolcro)

HISTORY

A legend is at the basis of the foundation of the church of the Holy Sepulcher of Acquapendente. A queen named Matilda (variously interpreted with Matilda of Scotland, or Matilda of Westfalia) in the 10th century, was in Acquapendente on her way to Rome, with many mules loaded with gold to build a dedicated church in the holy city. to the Holy Sepulcher. Arriving in front of the Roman gate, her mules refused to continue, even kneeling. In the evening a vision enlightened the queen, convincing her to have a church built right at that point where the mules had stopped, to house the chapel of the Holy Sepulcher. The first true testimony of the church is found in 1091, in a document. It is a donation made by Malnierro Visconti of Marseille of many assets, addressed to Domino Deo et Gloriosissimo eius Sepulchro Iherusalem et Acquependentis. Tradition has it that after having conquered Jerusalem, some Crusader knights brought here two small stones containing the stains of the Blood of Christ, coming from the praetorium of Pontius Pilate. Legend and history thus find themselves walking on parallel tracks, united by a thin thread to reality. In any case, a first phase of the construction of the church obviously connected to the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem fits perfectly into the widespread use in the West starting from the ninth century of building temples or aedicules in memory or imitation of the basilica of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. . Of this first phase, only the capitals of the Crypt, defined as “of barbaric expressiveness”, remain. In 1149, Pope Eugene III consecrated the building which generally corresponds to the current one. In fact, the many decorative interventions undergone over a millennium have completely altered the appearance that the church must have originally had. In 1649, following the destruction of Castro, Innocenzo X transferred the bishop’s seat to Acquapendente. This obviously influenced the revival of local devotion and the decorative projects of the city’s religious buildings. The bishop of Acquapendente Pompeo Mignucci obtained from the pontiff the sacred furnishings and furnishings from Castro, as well as the relics of saints, including the body of San Bernardo which was thus placed in the cathedral at the main altar, together with the bones of Sant ‘Hermes which had been found in 1652 during the renovation of the building. In 1656 a pastoral visit made by Monsignor Leti, testifies to us how various objects coming from other religious buildings, were placed in the church to decorate and exalt the cult of the Holy Sepulcher. Between 1755 and 1758 the decorative cycle of the presbytery of the apse basin was created by Apollonio Nasini on commission from Bishop Bernardo Bernardi, with depictions of the Coronation of the Virgin and the Resurrection, unfortunately destroyed in the Second World War. In the mid-eighteenth century, renovation works were carried out on the facade of the church. In fact, with a constant flow over time, the church has continued to enrich itself with works from other buildings, such as the marble bas-reliefs donated by Monsignor Angelo Gessi in 1893, and placed in 1948 during the restorations conducted by Orseolo Fasolo for decoration. of the front of the ambo placed on the sides of the staircase that leads from the nave to the mezzanine floor of the choir.

DESCRIPTION

The facade of the basilica is presented today in the forms restored through the restoration works promoted in 1746 by Pope Benedict XIV. A central body divided into two superimposed orders of pilasters arranged symmetrically two by two on the sides of the portal and on the sides of the aedicule of the order above. Here, above the large window, is placed ten meters high, within a large niche, a copy of the marble bust of Innocent X made by Algardi, the original of which is also kept in Acqupendente in the city museum – at the headquarters of the Episcopal palace. The portal, made of peperino, consists of a simple trilithic structure surmounted by a lunette. On the sides of the central body, two bell towers rise symmetrically above the central body, taking up the decorative aspect of the facade in its forms. The towers are characterized by a first order with pilasters, superimposed, above the entablature that runs along the entire façade, the actual bell cells. A portico runs along the right side of the church, inside which are the remains of the Romanesque building. Inside, the basilica has three naves divided by pillars, with an elevated transept and apse, below which the crypt is located. A trussed roof closes both the central nave and the side aisles. Four large symmetrical arches supported by pillars on the sides of the central nave separate it from the lateral ones. The church is harmonious 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”. This is a religious festival, made in honor of the Madonna del Fiore, which coincides with the historic event of the liberation of Acquapendnte from the oppression of Federico Barbarossa in 1166. This important local folkloric event, characterized by a competition to elect the best work made entirely with flowers, petals, leaves and plant material, takes place every year on the third Sunday of May and ends with the exhibition of the Pugnaloni (the works in question), in front of the cathedral and then kept for the whole year next within the same. In ancient times, the building was characterized by two rows of pillars different in shape and number. Currently, of the four that were on the left, the bases of different construction remain (lobed, circular, hexagonal cross); of the three on the right, only the first remains, octagonal in brick shape. On the pillars, we find some works.On the right, in the second pillar, the fragment of a fresco from the Roman school of the early fourteenth century, placed over a marble relief with phytomorphic decoration. The fresco, known as the Madonna del Fiore, was transported here from the ruined church of Santa Maria del Fiore, and was already mentioned in the pastoral visit made by Monsignor Leti in 1656 which saw it placed in the cathedral in Cornu Evangeli. In the pillars on the left, we find three terracotta panels wet in copper, each of which is divided into two scenes, which narrate the history of the basilica: The arrival of the Queen of Westphalia, The soldiers on horseback leaving for the First Crusade in the Holy Land ; the church It became a cathedral in 1649, after the destruction of the diocese of Castro; The consecration of the church by Pope Eugene III in 1149, and finally the destruction of a large part of the facade and interior due to an explosion during World War II (8/6/1944). At the end of the nave there are two ambos placed on either side of the staircase that leads to the mezzanine floor of the choir. Two marble bas-reliefs from a destroyed monument are displayed here, attributed by Raghianti to Agostino di Duccio in his Rimini phase, datable between 1452 and 1455. The bas-reliefs were donated by Monsignor Angelo Gessi in 1893, and placed in 1948 during the restorations carried out by Orseolo Fasolo to decorate the front of each of the ambos. The right ambo depicts St. Raphael the Archangel and Tobias. In the left ambo, St. Michael the Archangel and the dragon. Under the triumphal arch, in the center of the two stairways, there is the baptismal font in travertine from the church of Santa Vittoria, already witnessed in the same pastoral visit in 1656. The octagonal work is an inverted truncated pyramid, resting on a rock of fluted column with wavy grooves. The decoration of the font sees a main band that runs along the entire edge divided into fifteen compartments with bas-reliefs depicting the Baptism of Christ, the Twelve Apostles, Saint Matthias and Saint Victoria. The work dating back to around the mid-fourteenth century, has a phytomorphic decoration on the trapezoidal faces. Immediately behind the baptismal font, the centerpiece of the church. Under the choir, kept in the crypt of the church, is the Sacellum of the Holy Sepulcher. We therefore have two buildings, one above the other. On the lower floor there is the Romanesque crypt of the X-XI century.

The crypt was built in such a way that the upper part of the chapel of the Holy Sepulcher emerged and was visible through an opening in the vaults in the area in front of the apse of the church. All this to allow the faithful passing through the church to see the chapel and keep the symbolism of the Passion and death of Jesus constant. Returning to the right side aisle, walking along it, we find it devoid of works. At the bottom you arrive near the staircase that leads to the raised right transept, where the marble bust of Innocent X, made by Alessandro Algardi in 1652, is located. On the right, a flight of stairs descends to access the crypt of the Holy Sepulcher. Going up the stairs, in the right transept, we find the glazed terracotta dossal depicting the Glory of the Eucharist, a work created by Giacomo Parissi in 1522 for the local church of San Pietro dell’Olmo, and transferred here in 1881. From the inscription on the base on the dossal, we know that some pieces of the dossal between the disassembly and the relocation to the cathedral were lost, and were rebuilt by the sculptor Giovanni Battista Troiani from Villafranca di Verona. Immediately after we find the Chapel of the Sacrament. Here, on the left wall we find a canvas with Sant’Alfonso de Liguori and San Francesco di Sales, made by Vincenzo Chialli of Città di Castello, commissioned by Bishop Florindo Pierleoni in 1827. On the right wall a modern canvas with Santa Rosa da Viterbo. The apse area of ​​the chapel is decorated with Corinthian columns that frame the altar of the sacrament in the hemicycle. On the sides of the colonnade there are two wooden statues of the Virgin and Child. At the center of the raised choir, built above the crypt of the Holy Sepulcher, we find in the area in front of the apse, the high altar decorated with marble inlays. Behind the altar you can see the valuable wooden choir commissioned to the sculptor Matteo Monsù between 1685 and 1688, decorated with sculpted angels holding the symbols of the passion in their hands. In the apse, a frame decorated with angels and cherubs, created in the mid-eighteenth century by the sculptor Giovanni bulgarini. The frame adorns the statue of the Virgin from the destroyed city of Castro. To the left of the choir is the chapel of Sant’Ermete. Here on the right wall there are two more of the four canvases that were painted by Vincenzo Chialli of Città di Castello mentioned above. On the right wall we find the canvas with Saint Andrew and the canvas with Saint Lucia and the Virgin and Child between Saints Filippo Neri and Veronica Giuliani. A fourth canvas depicting the Baptism of Jesus was created by the artist on the same occasion, initially placed here and then moved to the church of Santo Stefano. In the center of the chapel, the reliquary containing the bones of St. Hermes, which had been found in 1652 during the renovation of the building and placed here in 1656 by the bishop of Acquapendente Pompeo Mignucci together with the body of San Bernardo. At the foot of the staircase that leads back from the raised choir to the nave, we find a modern statue of the deposition. On the right, another staircase connects the side nave to the crypt of the Holy Sepulcher. From here, continuing along the left aisle, except for the presence of the two confessionals, there are no other works. Before leaving, the last work you come across is a Holy Family with San Giovannino placed above the portal in the counter-façade wall.

ESSENTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

Acquapendente e il suo territorio. Regione Lazio, Assessorato alla Cultura, Spettacolo, Sport e Turismo. Direzione regionale cultura, sport e turismo, area valorizzazione del territorio e del patrimonio culturale. Avellino 2004.

Agostini, Le chiese di Acquapendente, Acquapendente 1987;

Biondi P., Le origini del comune di Acquapendente e la Madonna del Fiore, Acquapendente 1966;

Costantini N., Memorie storiche di Acquapendente, Acquapendente 1982;

Lise G., Acquapendente. Storia. Arte. Figure. Tradizioni, Acquapendente 1971.

Ruspantini M., La basilica del Santo Sepolcro di Acquapendente e il il sacello del Santo Sepolcro esistente nella sua cripta, in Elm K. – Damiano Fonseca C. (a cura di), Militia Sancti Sepulcri. Idea e istituzioni, Città del Vaticano, 1998.

Rossi M., Cenni storici di Acquapendente. Viterbo 1989.

Pietro Paolo Biondi, Le Croniche di Acquapendente. Descrizione della terra d’Acquapendente con la sua antiquità, nobiltà, governo, usanze ed altre cose (ed. a stampa del manoscritto ddl 1588) Acquapendente 1984.

Le opere d’arte della chiesa del Santo Sepolcro di Acquapendente sono state catalogate sui modelli inventariali nel 1993 dalla Soprintendenza BAS di Roma (Catalogratrice A. Capriotti); le schede sono state revisionate nel 2003 da P. Grassi per la Regione Lazio.

Fossati P. M., La basilica del Santo Sepolcro, Fossati, Acquapendente 1991.

Fasolo O., Le fasi della costruzione della cattedrale di Acquapendente. In Atti del convegno nazionale di storia dell’architettura (Perugia 1948), Firenze 1056.

Costantini N., Memorie storiche di Acquapendente. Acquapendente 1982.

Chiovelli R., Dalle rovine della guerra di Castro alla rinascita settecentesca, in Chiovelli R. Mengalli M. A. L., Guglielmo Melluzzi architetto di Acquapendente post unitaria. Acquapendente 2003.

Acquapendente città d’arte, Chiesa del Santo Sepolcro.