San Giacomo (1402)


In 1210, Pope Innocent III included a hospice here that was dedicated to St James among the possessions of  Bishop Egidio degli Atti.  The site was then outside the city, just after the Ponte di Cesare (Pos Cesaris), a bridge that crossed the original course of the Topino. 

  • The entrance to the main hall of this hospice survives as a side door of the church in Via Mentana (to the left). 

  • The chapel of the hospice stood on what is now the sacristy (to the right of the right transept of the present church).

Bishop Paperone de' Paperoni gave the complex to the Servites in 1273 and they adapted the main hall of the hospice into a church.  The course of the Topino was changed in 1277 and a new wall was built soon after so that the complex came within the walled city.




The Servites built the present church in the period up to 1402,  incorporating the earlier church as its crossing.  

  • The inscriptions that flank the portal record the amplification of the church in 1402, under Prior Filippo di Massiolo da Foligno.  This work was probably financed by Ugolino Trinci: the Trinci arms near the iscriptions were subsequently defaced.


  • The arms of the Servites are on the wall to the left of the facade.


The lower part of the campanile dates to this period, but the upper part was rebuilt in the 17th century.

The convent was suppressed in 1860, although a small Servite presence  was maintained here until 1994.  The church was badly damaged in the earthquake of 1997 and re-opened after restoration in 2000.

Interior


Bishop Luca Cibo, who was a Servite and lived in the convent, rebuilt the presbytery and probably added the cupola in ca. 1490.  His arms can be seen  over the door that leads to the sacristy.




The interior of the church was re-modeled in 1721-9. 

San Rocco and the Redeemer (ca. 1480)

This processional banner , which now forms the altarpiece on the first altar on the left, is attributed to Pierantonio Mezzastris.  It depicts St Roch commending the people of Foligno to the Risen Christ.

The construction of an altar here dedicated to St Roch is documented on a number of occasions in 1480-5, almost certainly in response to the epidemic of plague that affected the city in 1476-81.  The banner seems to have been taken in procession for the first time in 1481.


Virgin and SS James Major and James Minor (1702)

These three statues on the high altar are by Antonio Calcioni.  The Virgin is portrayed as the Madonna Addolorata (grieving mother).

Cloister

The two entrances in the wall to the right of the church lead to the main cloister:

  • The lower arcade was built in 1442-54.

  • The upper arcade was added in the 17th century.





The Chapter Room on the far side of the cloister was adapted from a room in the ancient hospice and  retains its original windows.  The sacristy to the left of it stands on the site of the chapel of the original hospice.


Scenes from the life of San Filippo Benizi (1611)

These ruined frescoes by Giovan Battista Michelini, Il Folignate are in lunettes in the lower arcade of the cloister.

Return to Walk I.