Trieste - Reaching for the Sky, the Church of San Antonio Nuovo
Explore - July 11th #495
This is the largest confessional Catholic church in the Borgo Teresiano, the area of Trieste which backs onto the sea and which was restructured by the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa. It is the biggest in the city. Nine projects for this church were presented to the panel, and Pietro Nobile's project was chosen. Work on the church began in 1828, and it was finished in 1849. It is in a perfect location, not far from Piazza dell Unità d'Italia and the canal. This position was purposefully chosen by the Habsburgs to facilitate commercial trafficking. The church is built in a neoclassical style, and has a façade with six ionic columns which support a tympaneum and an attic decorated with statues of local martyrs. There is an eliptic cupola at the center of the construction. The linear simplicity of the façade resembles Roman temples, and the Pantheon in particular. The icons inside the church were financed by local patrons Pietro Nobile and Domenico Rossetti, and were painted by German and Venetian artists. The semicircular apse is decorated by a fresco representing Christ's entrance into Jerusalem, and is by Sebastiano Santi. The six altarpieces are also interesting and are painted in a rather unusual way. They include Saint Joseph by Giuseppe Schönmann (which basically shows a view of the city), The Crucifixion by Ernesto Tunner, The Education of the Virgin by Michelangelo Grigoletti, The Presentation at the Temple by Felice Schiavoni, St Anthony taken up into the Sky by Odorico Politi, and the Martyrdom of the Aquileian St Euphemia, St Thecla, St Erasma, and St Dorothy by Lodovico Lipparini. The Church can be visited before or after mass.
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city. Trieste is located at the head of the Gulf of Trieste and throughout history it has been influenced by its location at the crossroads of Germanic, Latin and Slavic cultures. In 2009, it had a population of about 205,000 and it is the capital of the autonomous region Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Trieste province.
Trieste was one of the oldest parts of the Habsburg Monarchy from 1382 until 1918. In the 19th century, it was the most important port of one of the Great Powers of Europe. As a prosperous seaport in the Mediterranean region, Trieste became the fourth largest city of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (after Vienna, Budapest, and Prague). In the fin-de-siecle period, it emerged as an important hub for literature and music. However, the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Trieste's union to Italy after World War I led to some decline of its "Mittel-European" cultural and commercial importance. Enjoying an economic revival during the 1930s and throughout the Cold War, Trieste was an important spot in the struggle between the Eastern and Western blocs. Today, the city is in one of the richest regions of Italy, and has been a great centre for shipping, through its port (Port of Trieste), shipbuilding and financial services.
For further information on this fascinating city please visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trieste
Trieste - Reaching for the Sky, the Church of San Antonio Nuovo
Explore - July 11th #495
This is the largest confessional Catholic church in the Borgo Teresiano, the area of Trieste which backs onto the sea and which was restructured by the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa. It is the biggest in the city. Nine projects for this church were presented to the panel, and Pietro Nobile's project was chosen. Work on the church began in 1828, and it was finished in 1849. It is in a perfect location, not far from Piazza dell Unità d'Italia and the canal. This position was purposefully chosen by the Habsburgs to facilitate commercial trafficking. The church is built in a neoclassical style, and has a façade with six ionic columns which support a tympaneum and an attic decorated with statues of local martyrs. There is an eliptic cupola at the center of the construction. The linear simplicity of the façade resembles Roman temples, and the Pantheon in particular. The icons inside the church were financed by local patrons Pietro Nobile and Domenico Rossetti, and were painted by German and Venetian artists. The semicircular apse is decorated by a fresco representing Christ's entrance into Jerusalem, and is by Sebastiano Santi. The six altarpieces are also interesting and are painted in a rather unusual way. They include Saint Joseph by Giuseppe Schönmann (which basically shows a view of the city), The Crucifixion by Ernesto Tunner, The Education of the Virgin by Michelangelo Grigoletti, The Presentation at the Temple by Felice Schiavoni, St Anthony taken up into the Sky by Odorico Politi, and the Martyrdom of the Aquileian St Euphemia, St Thecla, St Erasma, and St Dorothy by Lodovico Lipparini. The Church can be visited before or after mass.
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city. Trieste is located at the head of the Gulf of Trieste and throughout history it has been influenced by its location at the crossroads of Germanic, Latin and Slavic cultures. In 2009, it had a population of about 205,000 and it is the capital of the autonomous region Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Trieste province.
Trieste was one of the oldest parts of the Habsburg Monarchy from 1382 until 1918. In the 19th century, it was the most important port of one of the Great Powers of Europe. As a prosperous seaport in the Mediterranean region, Trieste became the fourth largest city of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (after Vienna, Budapest, and Prague). In the fin-de-siecle period, it emerged as an important hub for literature and music. However, the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Trieste's union to Italy after World War I led to some decline of its "Mittel-European" cultural and commercial importance. Enjoying an economic revival during the 1930s and throughout the Cold War, Trieste was an important spot in the struggle between the Eastern and Western blocs. Today, the city is in one of the richest regions of Italy, and has been a great centre for shipping, through its port (Port of Trieste), shipbuilding and financial services.
For further information on this fascinating city please visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trieste