Church of Santa Maria di Portonovo, Ancona.
Church of Santa Maria di Portonovo, Ancona This tiny five naved church, built in sparkling white limestone, stands in the shadow of Monte Conero, just south of Ancona. It was built in the mid 11th Century, probably by Lombard builders brought here by French monks. The result is a rare and pleasing combination of Byzantine and Lombard styles. The three central naves are built in the form of a Latin basilica while the two shorter apsed naves serve as transepts to provide the layout of a Greek cross. The barrel vaulted ceilings are decorated with angular suspended arches supported on corbels above each of the twelve cylindrical columns, The conical tower stands on four square columns above the middle of the nave and has four biforium windows which light the centre of the church. The presbytery in the central apse is slightly raised, as are the apses of the two outer naves. There was also a Benedictine monastery here, though it was ill-equipped to fend off the pirates and bandits who infested the area and when the monastery was damaged by a landslide in 1320 the monks were forced to leave. The monastery was demolished by Napoleonic troops in 1808 for the construction of the nearby fortress but the abandoned church survived and was restored to its original splendour at the end of the 19th Century.
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Photo credit: © lugris / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ages, ancona, architecture, art, church, historical, holiday, italy, lugris2, marche, middle, portonovo, religion, romanesque, romanic, tourism, travel, vacation
