Italy—Emilia Romagna and Tuscany—7

Basilica of St. Dominic, Arezzo, Tuscany

Declared a minor basilica by Pope John XXIII in 1960.

This Gothic church was built by the Dominicans in the 13^th Century.  It has several paintings dating back hundreds of years.

 

From Wikipedia. 

Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist, Desena, Emilia Romagna

Declared a minor basilica by Pope John XXIII in 1960.

 

The basilica is a co-cathedral for the Diocese of Arezzo-Cortona-Sansepolcro, The Neo-Gothic and Romanesque church dates to 1385 but has been renovated several times.

 

From Wikipedia.

Basilica of St. Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna, Emilia Romagna

Declared a minor basilica by Pope John XXIII in 1960.

The basilica was built in 549 in Classe, the port of Ravenna.  It is an example of ancient Roman architecture, early church architecture, and Byzantine art.  St. Apollinare was the first Bishop of Ravenna.

 

From Wikipedia.

Basilica of St. Vitale, Ravenna, Emilia Romagna

Declared a minor basilica by Pope John XXIII in 1960.

The Byzantine style church was built between 526 and 547.  The Baroque mosaics date to the 18^th Century.  There is a prominent mosaic of the Empress Theodora.

 

All from Wikipedia.

Basilica of St. Mary in Porto, Ravenna, Emilia Romagna

Declared a minor basilica by Pope John XXIII in 1960.

The church was built in the 16^th Century as a monastery church.  The French damaged the church in 1797 and it became a secular building (even including a sweet shop) until the 1870s.  The church houses the Greek Madonna which, for reasons lost to history, came to Ravenna about 1100.

 

From Wikipedia.

Basilica of St. Paul Maggiore, the Assumption, Bologna, Emilia Romagna

Declared a minor basilica by Pope John XXIII in 1961.

This Baroque church was built in the early 17^th Century by the Barnabites.  The church was closed after a French invasion but was reconsecrated in 1878.

 

From Wikipedia.
 

Basilica Co-Cathedral of the Annunciation and St. Vicinio, Viareggio, Tuscony

Declared a minor basilica by Pope John XXIII in 1961.

The basilica is a co-Cathedral for the Diocese of Cesena-Sarsina.  The Romanesque church dates to around 1000, but additions and renovations have been made over time.

 

From Wikipedia.

 

Basilica and Co-Cathedral of St. Cassiano Martyr, Comacchio, Emilia Romagna

Declared a minor basilica by Pope John XXIII in 1961.

The basilica is the co-cathedral of the Archdiocese of Ferrara-Comacchio.  This Baroque church was built between 1659 and 1740 to replace an 8^th Century Romanesque cathedral.  The church has 12 chapels.

 

From Trip Advisor and Wikipedia.

 

Basilica Co-Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, Sansepolcro, Tuscany

Declared a minor basilica by Pope John XXIII in 1962.

The basilica is the co-cathedral for the Diocese of Arezzo-Cortona-Sansepolcro.  The Romanesque church was built in the 11^th Century and was once part of a Benedictine monastery.  The church has been visited by at least three popes and more importantly by St. Francis of Assisi.

The first picture is from TripAdvisor and the other two are from Wikipedia.

 

Basilica of Sant’Andrea, Viareggio, Tuscany

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Paul VI in 1963.

The Basilica was built in the 1840s in a neoclassical style.  It is administered by the Servites. 

From Mapcarta and Wikipedia.

Italy—Emilia Romagna and Tuscany—6

 

Basilica Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin of Piratello, Imola, Emilia Romagna

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Pius XII in 1954.

The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to a man in 1483 requesting that a church be built at this site.  This was the third time Mary identified herself as the Immaculate Conception.  The church was consecrated in 1492 and was given to the Franciscans.  It was enlarged in the 16^th Century and restored in the 19^th Century.

All pictures are from a local source.

St. Mark’s Basilica, Beretto, Emilia Romagna

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Pius XII in 1956.

The basilica was built in the late 1800s to replace an earlier church.

From Wikipedia.

St. Peter’s Basilica, Modena, Emilia Romagna

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Pius XII in 1956.    

The basilica is part of a Benedictine monastery that was founded in 983.  The current church was completed in 1518.  In front of the church, the column called Saint Peter’s Cross dates from before the 11th century.  The pipe organ dates to the 16^th Century.

All pictures are from Wikipedia.

 

 

Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, Ferrara, Emilia Romagna

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Pius XII in 1956.

A Gothic church was built here in the 14^th Century to replace a 13^th Century church.  This was later replaced with the current Renaissance style church.  The church has several frescoes by various artists.

 

All pictures are from Wikipedia.

 

Basilica of St. Frediano, Lucca, Tuscany

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Pius XII in 1957.

A church on this site was built by St. Frediano in the 6^th Century.  The current Romanesque church was a renovation of the original church done in the 12^th, 13^th, and 14^th Centuries.  The church contains the burial sites of St. Frediano and St. Zita (whose body remains uncorrupted).  The baptismal font dates to the 12^th Century.

 

 All pictures are from Wikipedia.

Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, Volterra, Tuscany

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Pius XII in 1957.

The basilica is the cathedral for the Diocese of Volterra.  The church was built in the 12^th Century to replace an earlier church destroyed by an 1117 earthquake.  The church was reconstructed in the 13^th Century.

All pictures are from Wikipedia.

 

Basilica of St. Paulinus of Antioch, Viareggio, Tuscony

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Pius XII in 1958.

The Renaissance church was built in the 16^th Century to replace an earlier church.

 

Wikipedia.
 

Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Grosseto, Tuscany

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Pius XII in 1958.

The basilica was built between 1954 and 1958 to commemorate the people killed during American bombing in 1943.

 

Basilica of San Mercuriale, Forli, Emilia Romagna

Declared a minor basilica by Pope John XXIII in 1959.

The church was built in the 12^th Century using a Lombard-Romanesque style.  An earlier church here dated to the 6^th Century.  The Benedictines built a monastery here in the 9^th Century which was taken over by the Vallumbrosan Order in the 12^th Century.

Wikipedia and a local source.

 

Cathedral Basilica of St. George the Martyr, Ferrara, Emilia Romagna

Declared a minor basilica by Pope John XXIII in 1959.

The Basilica is the Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Ferrara-Comacchio.  The church was built in the 12^th Century to replace an earlier cathedral, which still stands.  The Basilica was remodeled in the 16^th the 18^th Centuries and is now both Romanesque and Gothic. 

From Wikipedia.