The Church of Sant'Antonio Abate is a religious building of which there is evidence as early as the twelfth century and is located in Perugia in the homonymous village in Corso Bersaglieri, in the Port Sole district.
The church is documented as early as 1163 in the diploma of Frederick II as other ancient churches in Perugia were dependent on the Cathedral. It became a parish church in 1285. In the century. XV the monks of the Hospitaller Order of Saint Anthony settled there (Canons Regular of Saint Anthony of Vienne born as a lay brotherhood in France at Bour-Antoine di Vienne). In 1624 the Olivetan monks from the monastery of San Secondo on the Polvese island of Lake Trasimeno took over. The monastery was enlarged in 1785. As evidence of their settlement, the coat of arms of the Olivetans with the three mountains and the olive tree can still be seen above the entrance portal along Corso Bersaglieri.
In 1831 the Olivetans moved to the new and large site of Montemorcino Nuovo and the church was ceded to the Camaldolese monks and finally returned to the secular clergy. The monastery, after the abandonment of the monks, was used as civilian homes.
The architectural complex has undergone various transformations over the centuries, which can be found in the wall textures. Of the first intervention of the fifteenth century. there remains the buffered portico, in front of the facade, with fifteenth-century columns. The loggia attached to the façade, on the other hand, dates back to the eighteenth century. The current form of the church dates back to the restructuring commissioned by the Olivetan Fathers in the 17th century. On the occasion of the reconstruction of the floor in 1634, the underground crypt was found, where in the 18th century hundreds of dead died from an epidemic in 1766, who had been temporarily buried outside the walls, were transferred there.
The interior has a single nave divided into five spans by pilasters. It is covered with barrel vaults with lunettes painted with a starry sky. On the wall at the end of the presbytery, there is a fresco by the Perugian futurist painter Gerardo Dottori (circa 1930), with angels flying above a lake landscape. In the center is the carved and gilded altar with a wooden crucifix above.
In the left altar of the nave, there is a canvas with the image of St. Antonio Abbate by the 17th century painter Paolo Gismondi from Perugia. On the right altar is a painting by Benedetto Bandiera (XVII) that can be interpreted as Roman Santa Francesca, or the Virgin child and St. Anna. In the presbytery area there are four small canvases with the Four Evangelists (XVII). In the sacristy there was a lunette of the Perugian school depicting "The Blessing Eternal", perhaps belonging to the panel Madonna and Saints, painted for the altar of the church of S. Secondo all 'lsola Polvese, signed by Sinibaldo Ibi (1524). The panel was sent to Rome, along with many other works, on the occasion of their transfer to the Monastery of Santa Francesca Romana in the 18th century. The bezel has recently been restored and relocated.
In the counter-façade the ancient organ, restored by master Eugenio Becchetti, has a beautiful exhibition (1665) carved by the Pisan Michele Buti.
At the entrance of the church is the processional wooden statue of S. Antonio, recently restored at the heart of the Relive the village association, once it was placed in the external loggia, it represents the bearded titular saint with black cloak and T-shaped hanger, became the emblem of the Antonites for the thaumaturgical and therapeutic abilities of the Saint.
Church of Sant'Antonio Abate
Address: Corso Bersaglieri, 176, 06122
Phone:
Site:
http://www.borgosantantonio.com/associazione-di-promozione-sociale-borgo-santantonio-porta-pesa/borgo-santantonio/Location inserted by
Associazione Perugia1416 APS