San Siro di Struppa is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, Romanesque-style church in Struppa, a neighborhood of

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, region of

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

History

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

abbey was founded here in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, entitled to St.

Syrus of Genoa Saint Syrus of Genoa () (died around June 29, 381 AD) was a priest and later bishop of Genoa during the fourth century AD. Life Born at Struppa, a neighborhood of Genoa, he had a reputation for holiness and zeal. He succeeded Saint Felix as Rom ...

, who, according to the tradition, was born here. A church existed here, most likely, since the 5th century AD, but it is documented only in 955. In 1025 bishop Landulf I of Genoa gave it the Benedictines. The church was most likely rebuilt in the 12th century, as testified by its Genoese Romanesque style. It received a series of modifications in the 16th century, in the wake of the new procedures established by the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent (), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation at the time, it has been described as the "most ...

. Baroque elements were added in the 17th century. The Romanesque forms were restored in the 20th century.

Overview

The church was built in

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

, without external decorative elements aside from the

Lombard bands A Lombard band is a decorative blind arcade, usually located on the exterior of building. It was frequently used during the Romanesque and Gothic periods of Western architecture. It resembles a frieze of arches. Lombard bands are believed to h ...

of the upper edges of the walls, present on every side. The central

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' wa ...

of the façade was restored in the 20th century, replacing the Baroque window. In that occasion were also restored the triple

mullioned window A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid sup ...

s of the bell tower, which has a height of 32 m. The interior has a nave and two aisles, divided by sturdy columns without decorations. The main piece of art is a polyptych of St. Syrus (1516), once attributed to Teramo Piaggio, now assigned to Pier Francesco Sacchi.

Sources

*{{cite book, first=Corinna , last=Praga, title=Genova fuori le mura, location=Genoa, publisher=Fratelli Frilli Editori, year=2006, isbn=88-7563-197-2 5th-century churches 12th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Siro Struppa Benedictine monasteries in Italy Romanesque architecture in Genoa