Description of the attraction
Santo Sepolcro is a church in Pisa, the name of which literally translates as "Church of the Holy Sepulcher". It was built at the beginning of the 12th century by the architect Diotisalvi, who forty years later worked on the famous Pisa Baptistery and the city's Cathedral. The church was originally intended for the Hospitaller Order. Until the 16th century, the octagonal building of Santo Sepolcro was surrounded by a covered gallery. The central vestibule of the dome, supported by eight pointed arches, has a very majestic appearance.
The name of the church the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is not accidental - the fact is that for some time relics from the real Temple in Jerusalem were kept here, which were brought to Pisa by Archbishop Dagobert, who participated in the First Crusade. Moreover, the structure itself resembles the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, captured by the crusaders in 1099.
From the Hospitallers, the Church of Santo Sepolcro passed to the Order of the Knights of Malta, the successors of the Hospitallers. Since 1817, when the order was abolished, the building began to decline. Only in 1849, restoration work began, during which the original flooring was discovered, located a meter below street level. In order to restore the church to its medieval appearance, it was decided to demolish the covered Renaissance gallery and stone vaults. The interior, which was restored in the Baroque style in 1720, was also destroyed. Only a 15th-century ark with a bust of Saint Ubaldesca, a tombstone of Maria Mancini, niece of the famous Cardinal Mazarin, and a panel depicting the Madonna and Child of the 15th century have survived. The portals of the church are decorated with images of animals and marble lion heads. The unfinished small bell tower is made in the Pisano-Romanesque style.
