Sant'Antonino Basilica, dedicated to the saint patron of the city, of whom still preserves the relics, was founded in the 4th century AD. It was a reference point for pilgrims walking along Via Francigena (the Pilgrim’s Way), which goes past the Basilica and on which the so called Portico del Paradiso opens. The church was designed by Pietro Vago in 1350, and under its vaults in July 1998 found shelter a large statue representing Gregorio X, the only Pope from Piacenza, designed by Giorgio Groppi.
The inside portal is artistically interesting: it was built in the 12th century by workers influenced by the style of Niccolò da Ferrara.
Outside, the Basilica underwent several changes that modified its original plan, the latest of which was carried out by the architect Giulio Arata between 19195 and 1930. The church was also modified on the inside several times in the following centuries: for example, the original wooden ceilings were substituted by crossing vaults in a late-Gothic style, or in the 16th-17th centuries the presbytery was remodeled, and halfway through the 19th century pseudo-Gothic decorations marked the columns and walls. These and other restoring works obliterated some original paintings of great artistic value such as a cycle of frescoes from the 11th century, a rare and interesting example of medieval painting in Piacenza.
On the southern side of the church there is a cloister dating back to 1483. The church preserves other important artworks among which the frescoes by Camillo Gavasetti in the presbytery, on its walls there are also canvases by Robert de Longe. More art pieces are collected in Museo Capitolare. Here there is the so called “Brandazza”, a Baroque crucifix dearly cherished by the people in Piacenza, and other valuable objects like a reredos from the 15th century depicting scenes from the life of Sant’Antonino, and a “Coronation of the Virgin Mary” by Gian Battista Trotti called ‘Malosso’. From this church at the end of the 19th century the first group of missionaries of the San Carlo order founded by Beato Giovanni Battista Scalabrini left on a charity mission.
Moreover, in Sant’Antonino in 1183 were discussed the preliminaries of the Peace of Konstanz between Federico Barbarossa and Italian Communes, and a commemorative stone for this event is located in the Portico del Paradiso.
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