Description of the attraction
The Malatesta Temple, whose official name sounds like the Church of St. Francis, is the cathedral in Rimini. And it got its popular name by the name of Sigismund Pandolfo Malatesta, who in the middle of the 15th century initiated the restoration of the church. The famous Renaissance architect Leon Battista Alberti worked on the project to restore the temple.
The Gothic Church of San Francesco was built in the 13th century and originally belonged to the Franciscan order. It was rectangular in shape without side chapels, with a single nave and three apses. Probably, the central apse was painted with frescoes by the great Giotto, who is also credited with the crucifix, now kept in the second chapel on the right.
Malatesta commissioned the architect Alberti to rebuild the church and turn it into a kind of mausoleum for himself and his wife Isotta degli Atti. The very work on the reconstruction of the building was carried out by the architect from Verona Matteo di Andrea de Pasti. Alberti designed the construction of a dome, similar to that of the famous Roman Pantheon, which was to become one of the largest in Italy. However, for some unknown reason, Matteo never built this dome. Also, work was not completed on the upper part of the facade, which, according to Alberti's design, was supposed to have an end wall with a gable. In 1460, after excommunication from the church, luck turned away from the powerful Malatesta, and his mausoleum remained unfinished. The sarcophagi of Sigismund and Isotta were supposed to be located in two false arcades on the side of the main entrance to the church, but they remained empty.
Today, the Church of St. Francesca immediately attracts attention with its luxurious marble façade, decorated with sculptures by Agostino di Duccio (presumably) and Matteo de Pasti. The large arcades on the sides are similar in shape to the Roman aqueducts. In each of the false arched openings there are sarcophagi, reminiscent of the Gothic tradition of burial. The main portal has a triangular pediment, and the geometric decorations complete the tympanum.
Inside, to the right of the entrance, you can see seven chapels with the graves of prominent residents of Rimini, including the philosopher Gemistus Pleto. Right at the entrance is the tomb of Sigismund Pandolfo Malatesta. The chapel nearby bears the name of Saint Sigismund, the patron saint of the military (Malatesta himself was a famous condottieri). Here you can also see a fresco by Piero della Francesca depicting Malatesta kneeling before the saint. In the next chapel - Chapel degli Angeli - is the tomb of Isotta and the crucifixion of Giotto, probably painted by him during his stay in Rimini in 1308-1312. The Chapel of the Capella dei Pianety is dedicated to Saint Jerome and is decorated with zodiac signs by Agostino di Duccio. It contains an interesting canvas - a panorama of Rimini from the 15th century. And in the Chapel della Pieta, the bodies of some of Malatesta's ancestors are buried.
Since the church of San Francesco is literally filled with various references to the history of Malatesta and his family, many contemporaries considered it to be something of a cult temple. Pope Pius II, the worst enemy of Sigismund Pandolfo, called it "full of pagan deities and blasphemous things."
