Description
The abbey church of Santa Maria Assunta is the main church of the old town of La Spezia, in Piazza Giulio Beverini. It was the pro-cathedral of the diocese from 1929 to 1975. Inside it keeps a terracotta Coronation of the Virgin by Andrea della Robbia and a crucifix believed to be miraculous.
It was torn down by the people of La Spezia themselves, rebuilt, razed by bombs and rebuilt again. It has followed all the fortunes and misfortunes of the city, since the time when it was a small village. On June 8, 1371, the agreement uniting two podestarie under Genoese control was signed here.
In 1436, with the war between Genoa and Milan, the church stood outside the walls. There was fear that the condottiero Niccolò Piccinino would use it as an outpost to assault the town. So the people of La Spezia demolished it.
They rebuilt it in 1443 on the same spot, but inside the enlarged walls. It has three aisles divided by six late Gothic columns of white Carrara marble, cross vaults and walls with white and black bands.
The worst blow came on April 19, 1943: a bombing destroyed it almost entirely. Part of the presbytery and the two columns in front were saved, the only original ones left. After the war it was rebuilt and lengthened toward the square.
The postwar facade is by the La Spezia architect Franco Oliva: modern, but with white and black bands recalling Genoese Gothic. Above the three portals are marble lunettes by Angiolo Del Santo. The central bronze portal, from 1999, has eight relief panels.
Inside, the walls hold works that came from demolished churches of the city or ended up inside the Arsenal. From the refectory of the convent of San Francesco comes the large canvas of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes, from 1642, on the inside of the facade.
The most precious piece is the Coronation of the Virgin, a large glazed terracotta about three meters high: the Virgin among a multitude of angels, above six saints. For centuries it was believed to be by Luca della Robbia, but it is by his nephew Andrea.
In the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception is the Venerabile, a carved wooden crucifix of the 15th century, venerated by the people of La Spezia as miraculous. You notice the contracted face and the arched body. Then there is the martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew by Luca Cambiaso, with the patron in armor.
Don't miss
• Andrea della Robbia's Coronation of the Virgin.
• The Venerabile.
• Cambiaso's martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew.
• The facade with white and black bands.
Did you know?
• The old bell tower had a bell called "Lavezàa," the cooking pot: at noon it sent everyone home for lunch.
• From 1864 to 1881 the church kept the icon of Our Lady of the Snow, later given to the Salesians.
It was torn down by the people of La Spezia themselves, rebuilt, razed by bombs and rebuilt again. It has followed all the fortunes and misfortunes of the city, since the time when it was a small village. On June 8, 1371, the agreement uniting two podestarie under Genoese control was signed here.
In 1436, with the war between Genoa and Milan, the church stood outside the walls. There was fear that the condottiero Niccolò Piccinino would use it as an outpost to assault the town. So the people of La Spezia demolished it.
They rebuilt it in 1443 on the same spot, but inside the enlarged walls. It has three aisles divided by six late Gothic columns of white Carrara marble, cross vaults and walls with white and black bands.
The worst blow came on April 19, 1943: a bombing destroyed it almost entirely. Part of the presbytery and the two columns in front were saved, the only original ones left. After the war it was rebuilt and lengthened toward the square.
The postwar facade is by the La Spezia architect Franco Oliva: modern, but with white and black bands recalling Genoese Gothic. Above the three portals are marble lunettes by Angiolo Del Santo. The central bronze portal, from 1999, has eight relief panels.
Inside, the walls hold works that came from demolished churches of the city or ended up inside the Arsenal. From the refectory of the convent of San Francesco comes the large canvas of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes, from 1642, on the inside of the facade.
The most precious piece is the Coronation of the Virgin, a large glazed terracotta about three meters high: the Virgin among a multitude of angels, above six saints. For centuries it was believed to be by Luca della Robbia, but it is by his nephew Andrea.
In the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception is the Venerabile, a carved wooden crucifix of the 15th century, venerated by the people of La Spezia as miraculous. You notice the contracted face and the arched body. Then there is the martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew by Luca Cambiaso, with the patron in armor.
Don't miss
• Andrea della Robbia's Coronation of the Virgin.
• The Venerabile.
• Cambiaso's martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew.
• The facade with white and black bands.
Did you know?
• The old bell tower had a bell called "Lavezàa," the cooking pot: at noon it sent everyone home for lunch.
• From 1864 to 1881 the church kept the icon of Our Lady of the Snow, later given to the Salesians.