Welcome Everyone.

Welcome to News From Italy, my blog about our Italian Adventure. Although this blog has now ceased publication I will be continuing to blog and I am sincerely hoping that my many followers here will move with me to Travel Tales blog to follow my next adventures wherever they may take me. The links to my other blogs are:-


I look forward to keeping in touch with you via them, thanks once again for all the support you have given 'News From Italy' over the years.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

La Chiesa del Crocifisso – The Church of the Crucifix - Marta

Early last month I wrote about the Festa Day For San Biagio In Marta and included in the post were some photos of a statue of San Biagio outside the Church of The Crucifix on the corner of Piazza Umberto which has only recently reopened after extensive renovations.

I also took some photos of the church interior that same day which I am now sharing with a little background information

These are the same two photos I included previously of the Statue of San Biagio but larger showing more detail.

The following two photos of the church pre-restoration and information are taken from an online article I found here but the rest of the photos are my own.


La Chiesa del Crocifisso  - The Church of the CrucifixEsterno della Chiesa was originally built around the sixteenth century outside the city walls of the historic centre of Marta. Next to it on the left hand side there were in earlier times two other churches, San Biagio which was demolished in the late nineteenth century and SS Sacramento which was demolished in the twenties of the last century.

    Esterno della Chiesa

     

    The church was closed in October 2002 as it was in danger of collapse. The renovation and expansion began on August 28, 2007 and was completed towards the end of last year. Festa Day was the first opportunity we have had to view the restoration of this delightful little church.  I am so glad we took the time to do so as it is beautiful in its simplicity.

    I took this photograph in September last year the front door as seen above is still there but closed off inside the church.

     

    The Church has an altar with only two stucco columns that support an entablature above which are placed the dove of the Holy Spirit surrounded by rays of light and two decorative elements shaped amphora. The bottom part of the altar was was rebuilt when some earlier restoration took place in 1963.

     

The Church has a single nave, in the vault of the nave there is a fresco, partly covered and partly damaged, depicting the Last Judgement, probably the residue of a wider cycle of paintings that experts date from around the end of the sixteenth century.  My photo is rather poor I intend to go back one day and try to get some better ones.

 

In the middle of the church on the left hand side there is a small chapel which can be seen in the external photos.  It was here I photographed this beautiful icon and the casket below.

 

This plaque is commemorating the family whose contributions I assume enabled, or at least were a very important help towards the restoration being completed last year.

29 comments:

  1. Greetings! I've been reading your wonderful blog for a while! My family and I moved to Italy a few weeks ago. We'll be living in the Campania region for the rest of the year. We chose to pursue this job opportunity for my husband as a grand adventure for our family. We last lived overseas in England a few years ago. I look forward to meeting you or at least conversing with you via the blogworld!

    Most fondly,


    Lana Austin

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fantastic photos, you have done well, the one of the casket I think is particularly good and shows great detail. It is interesting seeing the variations between the churches of different countries. .

    Yes I have to agree, I have also learnt a lot since blogging. Not only from other people's blogs but from the research I have done for my own!!! Diane

    ReplyDelete
  3. Amazing treasures there and your photos are terrific! Wonderful that they restored it so beautifully. Thank you, as always, for this special tour and wishing you a wonderful evening. – g

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wonderful photos and story. Imagine the stories the walls of that little church could tell...to have been around for so long...a place central to the lives of all the people who lived there through that the years.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Phil and I love visiting Churches. We are looking forward to going inside Rouen Cathedral when on holiday in France later this year. I remember the wonderful ones we visited in Spain, we really must have a holiday in Italy and see a few there!!! Great photographs, especially of the casket.

    Jackie in Surrey, UK

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi LindyLou, thank you for coming to my blog. What different churches we have in our towns! Of course here up in the North ours are Protestant ones. From an early age I have loved visting churches. This is a great post, I love being pointed out details which I might look past otherwise. Thanks for this!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love to visit churches and this is one beautiful. Thank you for the virtual tour.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love old Churches as well. Lovely photos, particularly the interior shots. Thank you for sharing with them. Isn't that little gold casket beautiful?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Always so much to see and photograph in old neighborhoods, old churches.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I just love these photos, Linda! I so enjoy wandering through old churches, sitting quietly and just being at rest.

    ReplyDelete
  11. What a treasure; I am glad they were able to restore this church and that it did not suffer the fate of the other two. Sometimes structures are lost because the renovations are just too expensive. If this one was close to collapsing I guess they had to do a lot of extensive work.
    In one of the photos the church bells are noticeablr. Do many of the churches ring their bells during the day? Growing up I used to hear church bells - I loved them - but where I live now there are no churches that have bells that are in hearing distance.
    Beautiful marbeling technique.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love Italy ! and hence your blog
    I am a new photoblogger from brussels
    http://whatisbelgium.blogspot.com
    greetings
    anni

    ReplyDelete
  13. Always enjoy your posts! The photos are wonderful. When are you going to put all of this in book form?

    ReplyDelete
  14. I do have a bit of a thing for churches, I love looking round them. The photos are beautiful, I feel like I am there which is great!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I absolutely love the small centers of Central Italy (Toscana, Umbria, Lazio, Abruzzo) and they are always my favourite destination when travelling within the Country.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I love Italy! Your country is beautiful.
    Enjoy the evening xxx

    ReplyDelete
  17. I love churches and in Italy you have wonderful and ancient ones such as this one. Thanks so much for showing it.

    ReplyDelete
  18. What a beautiful and spiritually-moving tour through this lovely Italian church. I do love the old Catholic churches and could spend hours in them. Although I have still to visit my native land, i have enjoyed the church interiors in Mexico, New Mexico, and Arizona where old churches still remain. Thank you for always allowing us to live in Italy through your photos!

    PS I am so glad that you are happy about my featuring your blog....I just love visiting each week!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Beautiful photos. I like the simplicity of the interior - so light, airy and spiritually touching.

    ReplyDelete
  20. What a beautiful church. I enjoy seeing all churches, especially the ones with history..Some churches in Maine, have a bit of history, but so many are closing. Sad but true. Down the road from me, is an Old German Church..only opened in the summer time..One day I will write about it.
    It is only made of wood..but unique.
    Happy I got to visit again..always enjoy your blog..
    Have a happy rest of the week..xoxRosebud/Carolyn

    ReplyDelete
  21. Lana@ Welcome it is good to meet you and I wish you all the best in your adventure, which i look forward to following.

    Patricia@ I am pleased that you found the post interesting.

    Angela@ Thankyou for your comments, I agree that it is always interesting to visit churches in different countries.

    Rosaria@ Yes I love it, the exploring and the photos, thank goodness for digital.

    Rambling Tart@ I appreciate you liking them, your own are always so special!

    Anni@ Welcome and thanks for commenting, I will visit your blog. I hope you will be able to enjoy Italy virtually via News From Italy.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Lindy, I am impressed by this church. You know, when I think about Italy I imagine these wonderful buildings. I have to admire all the history in them.
    Beautifully done article. I hope one day I can see some of these places.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Dona@ If you have not already visited the Viterbo region I hope that you will be able to one day.

    Roz@ I hope you get to visit one day but meanwhile I enjoy sharing a little piece of Italy with you virtually. I was delighted you featured me :)

    ReplyDelete
  24. Hi lindyLou,
    Thanks for this highly informative post!

    O.T. "Chiamami ancora amore" is a wonderful song, indeed (as far as I know Vecchioni retired from teaching years ago).

    ReplyDelete
  25. I loved visiting churches when we were in Paris and Rome. Even attended an Italian mass one time. :)

    My Internet connection is pretty bad for some reason and some of your photos are not loading up for me. :(

    ReplyDelete
  26. Lovely photos and it's always great to find that there are people who care about history and heritage and will take on these kind of projects. What a beautiful church. Love from London xo

    ReplyDelete
  27. Chocchay@ Welcome as the latest follower it is very much appreciated and I hope you will enjoy sharing my little piece of Italy.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for visiting my blog and taking the time to leave a comment. I really appreciate it and enjoy reading them all. I now only respond to comments via email, so please make sure your comment is linked to your account, if you would like a response. Otherwise I will not be able to respond!