Ex chiesa dei SS. Felice e Regolo
This small building in via Ulisse Dini includes the remains of the church of SS. Felice e Regolo. The building is the result of late 19th century renovation in Neogothic style, and restoration on the 20th century that revealed the columns and capitals of the original medieval loggia.
The church, first mentioned in 1070, stood within the Late Antiquity city walls, by the Visdomino gate. It was built as a loggia open on three sides. The columns and capitals facing via Dini were recovered from Roman buildings.
The capitals, dating from the early 3rd century AD, were probably the work of craftsmen from the East. They come from a place of worship and represent on the left, the Alexandrine triad of Arpocrates Isis and Serapis and the Capitoline triad of Jupiter, Minerva and Mercury on the right. The other two composite capitals date from when the church was built in the second half of the 11th century.
The arches were closed and the level of the floor raised perhaps before the 15th century; further renovation was carried out in the 17th and 18th centuries, when the a second story was added to the building and it was consolidated.
In 1785 the Church was suppressed and the loggia used as for storage; in 1864 the Cassa di Risparmio di Pisa bought the building and used it as offices.
A 14th century fresco depicting Mary Magdalene is kept in the Cassa di Risparmio di Pisa central office (piazza Dante), and a painting on wood known as the Madonna degli Orafi (Goldsmith’s Madonna), attributed to Turino Vanni (late 14th century), probably originally placed above the altar in the Church, is on display in the di S. Matteo Museum.