San Francesco Church

About

The church of San Francesco is a church located in Mirandola, in the province of Modena, Italy. Almost completely destroyed by the 2012 Emilia earthquake, it was one of the first Franciscan churches built in Emilia by the Order of Friars Minor, constructed shortly after the canonisation of St. Francis of Assisi in 1228. Inside it was the ''Pantheon'' of the House of Pico della Mirandola.

Towards the first half of the 13th century, the Franciscan friars arrived in Mirandola from Bologna, where the first Franciscan settlement dates back to 1213, while the beginning of the construction of the Bolognese Basilica of St. Francis is recorded in the year 1236, after the visit of St. Francis of Assisi to Bologna in 1222.

The first building of the Mirandola complex, initially with a single nave, a gabled roof with two slopes and a quadrangular plan, dates back to 1286-1287, in the outer part of the defensive walls of Mirandola among the houses of Borgo di Sopra, later renamed Borgo San Francesco. At the time, the façade faced east and the apse towards the walls of the centre of Mirandola. Other records of the church date back to 1349, 1377, 1385, and 1392.

In 1390, a council of 13 judges met in the church of San Francesco to settle the dispute that had arisen over the dominion of Mirandola between the four brothers Spinetta, Francesco, Prendiparte and Tommasino (sons of Paolo Pico) against Giovanni and Prendiparte (sons of Nicolò Pico).

In 1400 the church was reconsecrated, after the reconstruction within the new walls ordered by Costanza Pico (daughter of Tommasino and wife of Stefanino Stefanini of Modena), enlarged to three naves in Gothic style. Later, the chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin of Reggio was built in Baroque style. A few years after the fall of the Pico family, their tombs were plundered.

In 1660, a five-arched exterior portico was built, connecting the façade to the adjacent monastery. Until its demolition in 1927, the Franciscan friars distributed soup or a hot meal and bread to the poor and wayfarers, including foreigners, under that portico. The institution of the " desco dei poveri " (known in Mirandola dialect as " al scaldatoi ") dates back to 1485, while ten years later, to combat usury, the Sacro Monte di Pietà was founded (later incorporated into the Cassa di Risparmio di Mirandola in 1941), where the needy could pledge their possessions at little or no interest.

In 1714, the bursting of the keep of the Pico Castle caused serious damage to the church of San Francesco, as well as to all the buildings in the town centre. Further serious damage occurred in 1798-1799 during the French campaign in Italy, but the church managed to save itself from Napoleonic destruction (which also abolished ecclesiastical orders), as it was sold together with the Oratory of Santa Rosalia.

After the destruction of the convent in 1812, a period of restoration began after two years with the advent of Francis IV, Duke of Modena, who, however, transferred to Modena in 1818 the very precious Crucifixion with Saints Jerome and Francis (known as the Altarpiece of the Three Crosses, today exhibited in the Galleria Estense ), a 15th-century work by Francesco Bianchi Ferrari. In 1824 a monument was added dedicated to the famous Renaissance philosopher Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, who died in 1494 in Florence and buried there in the Convent of St. Mark. In 1833 the wooden high altar carved in 1745 by Francesco Salani della Mirandola was destroyed. In 1837, the windows on the southern wall were closed.

After 1848, the Franciscan monastery was also rebuilt. In 1866, the convent was requisitioned by the Kingdom of Italy, which handed it over to the municipality the following year. In 1870, the church was again restored: the interior was plastered with wide white and blue horizontal stripes in Gothic-Tuscan style and the side chapels were enriched with post-Baroque and Rococo decorations, with an altar in each bay

During World War I, the army requisitioned the church, which was closed from 1917 for many years.

During the Fascist period, a radical stylistic restoration was planned by the superintendency of Bologna and following the canons of Alfonso Rubbiani: in 1927 the external portico dating back to 1660, which housed the so-called "desco dei poveri" (the demolition was justified as indispensable due to the serious damage to the wall, which was not actually present), was demolished and restoration work began, which was completed in 1938, in an attempt to restore the church to its original appearance, i.e. prior to the 19th century renovations. In addition to the portico, the Baroque altars were removed and the windows on the south wall, which had been reduced to an almost square shape in 1642, were restored with stained glass windows. In addition, the marble floor was redone, but the Pico family's underground mass graves were lost (the crypt was already buried in 1922). In 1928-1930, a military shrine was built for soldiers who had fallen in the wars. The mullions on the southern and northern sides of the bell tower, which had been reduced to single-light windows in 1829, were also restored. In 1929, the windows of the south aisle were reopened and the floor was redone in marble.

The adjacent Franciscan monastery housed the civic library (founded in 1868), the junior high school and the Liceum "Giovanni Pico" (founded in 1923): the façade on Giuseppe Garibaldi square was completely rebuilt in "mock-Gothic" style by Fascist architect Mario Guerzoni.

In 1994 the Franciscan friars left the church for good and in January 1997 it was entrusted by the bishop of Carpi Bassano Staffieri to don Luciano Ferrari, diocesan priest and chaplain of the Santa Maria Bianca Hospital in Mirandola ; as rector, he was in charge of the church until, in view of his advanced age, the newly installed Bishop Elio Tinti decided to assign it to the Missionary Servants of the Poors as of 19 October 2001.

The San Francesco complex was severely damaged by the 2012 Emilia earthquake : the bell tower, which initially remained standing after the first tremor on 20 May, was damaged by the earthquake, subsequently collapsed during the second major seismic tremor on 29 May, fortunately without causing any casualties. The bell tower crashed down onto the church, almost completely destroying it, of which only the façade, the northern wall (where the Pico tombs are located) and the chapel of the military shrine in the opposite southern nave were saved. On 22 June, about a month after the first earthquake, the fire brigade began slinging and shoring up the surviving façade and the remains of the church.

The damage caused by the earthquake to the church of San Francesco amounts to 10 million euros.

Towards the first half of the 13th century, the Franciscan friars arrived in Mirandola from Bologna, where the first Franciscan settlement dates back to 1213, while the beginning of the construction of the Bolognese Basilica of St. Francis is recorded in the year 1236, after the visit of St. Francis of Assisi to Bologna in 1222.

The first building of the Mirandola complex, initially with a single nave, a gabled roof with two slopes and a quadrangular plan, dates back to 1286-1287, in the outer part of the defensive walls of Mirandola among the houses of Borgo di Sopra, later renamed Borgo San Francesco. At the time, the façade faced east and the apse towards the walls of the centre of Mirandola. Other records of the church date back to 1349, 1377, 1385, and 1392.

In 1390, a council of 13 judges met in the church of San Francesco to settle the dispute that had arisen over the dominion of Mirandola between the four brothers Spinetta, Francesco, Prendiparte and Tommasino (sons of Paolo Pico) against Giovanni and Prendiparte (sons of Nicolò Pico).

In 1400 the church was reconsecrated, after the reconstruction within the new walls ordered by Costanza Pico (daughter of Tommasino and wife of Stefanino Stefanini of Modena), enlarged to three naves in Gothic style. Later, the chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin of Reggio was built in Baroque style. A few years after the fall of the Pico family, their tombs were plundered.

In 1660, a five-arched exterior portico was built, connecting the façade to the adjacent monastery. Until its demolition in 1927, the Franciscan friars distributed soup or a hot meal and bread to the poor and wayfarers, including foreigners, under that portico. The institution of the " desco dei poveri " (known in Mirandola dialect as " al scaldatoi ") dates back to 1485, while ten years later, to combat usury, the Sacro Monte di Pietà was founded (later incorporated into the Cassa di Risparmio di Mirandola in 1941), where the needy could pledge their possessions at little or no interest.