Complex Sant'Orso description and photos - Italy: Aosta (Topic)

Sant'Orso complex description and photos - Italy: Aosta. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The name in English is Sant'Orso.

Photo and description

The complex of Sant Orso, dedicated to St. Ursus of Aosta, is one of the major attractions of the city of Aosta and one of the most interesting religious complexes in the Alps, consisting of the churches of St. Peter and Sant Orso, separately standing wonderful bell tower, an excellent cloister and a small renaissance monastery.

In ancient times, on the site of the Sant Orso complex, there was a vast city necropolis, on the territory of which an early Christian temple was erected in the 5th century. The original building of the Church of San Orso consisted of one hall, bounded by a semicircular apse. And in the 9th century, during the reign of the Carolingian dynasty, it was completely rebuilt. Later, at the initiative of the local bishop Anselm, the church was also reconstructed - this time it was built according to the plan of a basilica with three naves with wooden trusses. The latter in the 15th century were replaced by Gothic baptismal vaults. Choirs and mosaics belong to the Gothic period.

Today, in the church of Sant'Orso, there are many missals - liturgical books and reliquaries, including the relics of Saint Ursus, which rest in the crypt, and the relics of Saint Gratus of Aostius. Particularly noteworthy is the cloister of the church with capitals decorated with figures of people and animals, which depict scenes from the life of Ursus of Aostius - it is called a "marble masterpiece". The cloister consists of 37 marble columns, although its northern part was demolished in the 18th century.

44-meter bell tower of the complex, erected in 989, it retains part of the original medieval structure, although it acquired its current Romanesque appearance in the 12th century. Inside the church, in the space between the current vault and the original ceiling, there are fragments of Romanesque painting depicting scenes from the New Testament.

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Topic: Complex Sant'Orso description and photos - Italy: Aosta.