Sant'Ansano, Spoleto
Sant'Ansano is a neoclassical-style, Roman Catholic church located in the town of Spoleto, in the province of Perugia, region of Umbria, Italy.
History
A church at the site had been built around the tomb of St Isaac, a Syrian eremitic monk who supposedly came to a mountain around Spoleto in the 6th century. The present church was built in the late 1700s by the Milanese architect Antonio Dotti.
Inside are housed a fresco depicting the Madonna and Child and two Saints by Giovanni di Pietro, also called Lo Spagna and a main altarpiece depicting the Martyrdom of St Ansano by Archita Ricci.
The Crypt of Sant'Isacco below the church was likely previously a ground-level, ancient Roman temple, upon which a church was built above. St Isaac of Monteluco was putatively a fifth century Syrian hermit, who established a community of hermit-monks in nearby Monteluco. The crypt has romanesque-style, sculpted capitals (8-9th century) atop ancient Roman columns. It may in fact have been an original ground level pagan Roman temple. It also has some 11th-12th-century restored frescoes.[http://www.comune.spoleto.pg.it/turismoecultura/en/the-city/churches/chiesa-di-santansano-e-cripta-di-santisacco/ Comune of Spoleto], entry on church, quoting L’Umbria, Manuali per il Territorio, Spoleto, Roma 1978; A. Sansi, Degli edifici e dei frammenti storici delle antiche età di Spoleto,Foligno 1869.
References
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Category:Neoclassical architecture in Umbria
Category:Romanesque architecture in Spoleto
Category:18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy
Category:Octagonal churches in Italy
Category:Neoclassical church buildings in Italy
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