San Paolo d'Argon Monastery

San Paolo d'Argon, Italy

The Monastery of San Paolo d'Argon was a Benedictine monastery decorated by premier painters of the late-Baroque era. The monastery was initially founded in the 11th century. It was reconstructed in the 16th century to take on the present layout with two cloisters. The design is attributed to Pietro Isabello. The frescoes (1624) in the refectory were painted by Giovanni Battista Lorenzetti.

Starting in 1684, the church was reconstructed by the architect Domenico Messi. He also designed the marble façade was begun in 1688.

The nave ceiling has frescoes depicting the Scenes from the life of Saints Paul and Benedict (1712-1713) by Giulio Quaglio (presumably Giulio Quaglio the Younger). The polychrome marble altars in the church were constructed (1692-1707) by Antonio and Domenico Corbarelli from Brescia. The four evangelists in niches of the facade were sculpted by Santo Callegari il Vecchio. The main altar (1716) was built by the Corbarelli, but has sculptures by the studio of Andrea Fantoni.

In the first chapel on the left is an altarpiece depicting St Andrew with Saints John the Evangelist, Pantaleone, and Lucy (1703) by Antonio Molinari. The flanking walls have canvases depicting the Martyrdom of St John the Evangelistand St Andrew prays to the Cross of Martyrdom, both from 1728, painted by Giuseppe Maria Crespi.

The second chapel on the left has two oval canvases (1727) depicting events that could be linked to the theme of the eucharist: the Gathering of Manna and Melchizedek offers bread and wine to God by Paolo de Matteis.

The third chapel on left, houses a St Gregory the Great prays for liberation from the Plague (1698) by Domenico Carretti, and two canvases depicting St Gregory receives Jesus and St Gregory shows the faithful his bloody corporal, both from 1729, by Antonio Balestra.

The front chapel houses a painting depicting St Benedict giving St Maurus the Benedictine Rules with Saints Placidus and Scholastica (1692) by Gregorio Lazzarini. This is flanked by two canvases depicting St Maurus rescues St Placidus from the water on commands from St Benedict and St Maurus heals the Sick by Sebastiano Ricci.

In the central chapel at right are two oval canvases (1728) depicting the Sacrifice of Isaac and The Bronze Serpent by Paolo de Matteis. In the first chapel on righ is an altarpiece depicting St Alexander decapitated with Saints Grata, Fermo, Rustico, and Antony (1704) by Antonio Bellucci. On the lateral walls are two canvases (1729) depicting Saints Fermo and Rustico in Prison and the Martrydom of St Alexander by Giuseppe Maria Crespi.

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Details

Founded: 16th century
Category: Religious sites in Italy

Rating

4.6/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Matteo Alborghetti (6 months ago)
Beautiful building, I passed by because the local biodance group meets here. Quiet atmosphere, in the end it's a in the building but I wasn't particularly surprised
Enzo Ornaghi (11 months ago)
Beautiful abbey with a long history. Built in 1079, it has undergone numerous transformations up to its current structure. Excellent maintenance thanks also to the presence of the Fileo library, the JAC Foundation and the possibility of using the location for conferences, ceremonies, etc. The visit to the church and the abbey with the guide costs only 5 euros (strongly recommended) or 3 euros for entry only. Better to book. Inside the abbey there is a small bar open from Monday to Friday from 9.00 to 17.00 and on Sundays from 10.30 to 17 where it is possible to have breakfast, lunch (including first and second courses) or a snack at excellent prices. The menu is online. In the square in front of the entrance there is a car park, an even larger one is located to the east of the location.
T M (13 months ago)
Top point!
Siu Long (16 months ago)
Interesting Renaissance monastery which it is possible to visit, for free, with a tourist guide every third Sunday of the month (For booking, check theur website). Unfortunately, the guide speaks only in Italian. It would be nice if they could add English tour. I believe that foreigners would appreciate it. The monastery passed from one religious order to the other and, at times, those who were supposed to manage it, used the its resources for their own interest... I guess this is nothing new! When Napoleon occupied Bergamo, this monastery was closed and, sadly, the French troops burned its library and all the manuscripts that were there stored... In more recent times, the monastery was used as asylum for orphans and, finally, now it belongs again to the Church and it has been restored and open to the public.
Luca Rizzi (4 years ago)
Beautiful and suggestive bike there are guided tours to see it and hear its interesting story me is YES
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