Description of the attraction
The church of Sant'Agostino, located in the historic center of Genoa and now secular, is sometimes used for various performances in the nearby Teatro della Tossa. During the bombing of the city during the Second World War, the church was seriously damaged. After the war, it was used for several decades as a repository for sculptures, architectural debris and frescoes, collected piece by piece in various destroyed churches and formed the core of the collection of the Museum of Sculptures of Sant'Agostino.
The church was erected in the second half of the 13th century by monks from the Augustinian order, and was originally dedicated to Saint Thekla. Today it is one of the few surviving Gothic-style buildings in Genoa - most of them were destroyed in the 19th century. It has a distinctive façade with two-tone stripes of white marble and blue stone, with a huge rosette window above the frieze. Noteworthy is the lancet portal with frescoes by Giovanni Battista Merano depicting St. Augustine. On the sides are two double vaulted windows. Inside, the church consists of a central nave and two side chapels, separated by arches that support columns of rough stone. Near the main altar can be seen a fresco attributed to Barnaba da Modena, depicting paintings of the Last Judgment. This is most likely the last creation of Barnaba, in which traces of the Byzantine style, so beloved by the artist, are clearly discernible. Outside, it is worth paying attention to the bell tower with windows separated by columns, which is crowned with a central spire and four side ones.
The church building also includes two cloisters - covered galleries, now included in the Museum of Sant'Agostino. The museum was created in the late 1970s by Franco Albini and Franca Helg. The so-called "triangular cloister" was built in the 14-15th centuries and is adjacent to the right side of the church. And the 18th century cloister, rectangular and larger in size, was moved to a new location and completely restored. Perhaps the most important exhibit of the museum is the tombstone of Margarita di Bramante, created at the beginning of the 14th century.
Description added:
novel 2014-12-05
Niccolo Pagania gave his first concert in this church
