Sant'Ansano, Spoleto
History
A church at the site had been built around the tomb of St Isaac, a Syrian eremitic monk who supposedly came to a mountain around Spoleto in the 6th century. The present church was built in the late 1700s by the Milanese architect Antonio Dotti.
Inside are housed a fresco depicting the Madonna and Child and two Saints by Giovanni di Pietro, also called Lo Spagna and a main altarpiece depicting the Martyrdom of St Ansano by Archita Ricci.
The Crypt of Sant'Isacco below the church was likely previously a ground-level, ancient Roman temple, upon which a church was built above. St Isaac of Monteluco was putatively a fifth century Syrian hermit, who established a community of hermit-monks in nearby Monteluco. The crypt has romanesque-style, sculpted capitals (8-9th century) atop ancient Roman columns. It may in fact have been an original ground level pagan Roman temple. It also has some 11th-12th-century restored frescoes.
References
- ^ Comune of Spoleto, entry on church, quoting L’Umbria, Manuali per il Territorio, Spoleto, Roma 1978; A. Sansi, Degli edifici e dei frammenti storici delle antiche età di Spoleto,Foligno 1869.
42°26′09″N 12°26′29″E / 42.435883°N 12.441331°E