Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 October 2024 return the FAI Autumn Days, the beloved and now expected event that the FAI - Italian Environment Fund ETS dedicates, for twelve years, to the cultural heritage and landscape of our country. During the weekend, animated and promoted with enthusiasm by FAI Youth Groups, together with all the volunteers of the Territorial Network of the Foundation, will be proposed special visits to contribute to hundreds of extraordinary places throughout Italy, Selected because usually inaccessible or because curious, original or little valued and known.
The public will be able to marvel at the wealth and variety of treasures of history, art and nature that are hidden, unexpected and amazing, in every corner of the Peninsula: among these you will discover historical palaces, villas, churches, castles, Further examples of industrial archaeology, museums, art collections, archaeological sites, libraries, craft workshops and production sites. There will also be itineraries in the villages and paths in nature areas, urban parks, botanical gardens and historical gardens. The FAI Autumn Days are organized as part of the fundraising campaign of the Foundation "October of the FAI", active throughout the month.
In our city the appointment is SATURDAY 12 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. (last entry at 5.30 p.m.) with "San Paolo a Ripa d'Arno and Sant'Agata: history of restorations".
The church of San Paolo a Ripa d'Arno and the chapel of Sant'Agata are located on the left bank of the Arno, near the bridge of the Citadel. The church overlooks the homonymous square, mostly covered by green, which also extends to the sides of the nave. On the back of the church is located a fenced garden, in the center of which stands the chapel of Sant'Agata, the only remaining evidence of value of an ancient monastic complex destroyed during the Second World War.
The complex was founded at the beginning of the IX century, with a primitive church rebuilt a century later and then modified and enlarged until the XIV century, with monastery coeval or perhaps added later. Probably between 1090 and 1092 the monks of Vallombrosano took over, who modified the church. The chapel of Sant'Agata dates back to a period between the end of the XI s. and the beginning of the XII s.. Following the suppression of religious orders, the complex passed to the state in 1866. The Second World War caused serious damage to the church and monastery, leaving the chapel of Sant'Agata undamaged. During the restoration, the latter was isolated by demolishing the surrounding buildings.
The church of San Paolo has a basilic plan with three naves with transept and semicircular apse. The window in the center of the Romanesque apse was equipped with a gothic profile that hosts a 14th century stained glass; despite the war damage suffered, the work remains legible and mysterious in some respects. The church preserves many works of art, including the polyptych Madonna and Child and Saints Ranieri and Torpe by Turino Vanni, the particular cross painted with the face and body of Christ of two different styles and periods and the medieval frescoes attributed to Buonamico Buffalmacco, They were born by chance in the nineteenth century. The chapel of Sant'Agata, placed on the back of the church, in line with the apse of the same, is an octagonal building of about 7 m in diameter, with corner pillars and round arches; between them the brick inlays are marked by trifores. The roof is pyramidal with hanging arches. The interior is bare except for an altar. Traces of paintings of ancient frescoes have been found during the restoration of 1958-59: inside the cusp, in correspondence with the three windows and below the hanging arches.
WHAT WILL YOU DISCOVER DURING THE DAYS DO?
The church of San Paolo a Ripa d'Arno is among the most loved churches in the city and this will be an opportunity to make it known to as many people as possible, together with the chapel of Sant'Agata, which arouses the curiosity of many. The opening includes a visit to history and restoration that over the years have seen the church of San Paolo in Ripa d'Arno, the chapel of Sant'Agata and the ancient monastery, no longer existing. Visitors will retrace centuries of history, dwelling on the results of architectural choices made following the bombing of the Second World War, which have among other things brought to light forgotten pictorial traces, to the most recent restoration of some works of art inside the church.
FAI Giovani Pisa
The chapel of Sant'Agata is open only for events.
Visits by Mr. Claudio Barandoni, Dr Elena Burchianti, Dr Elisa Todisco; Youth Group and FAI Delegation of Pisa
