Aosta Sant orso Chiostro Capitello10 Lato Nord

The Collegiate church of Saint Ursus (, ) is a

collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons, a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, headed by a dignitary bearing ...

Aosta Aosta ( , , ; ; , or ; or ) is the principal city of the Aosta Valley, a bilingual Regions of Italy, region in the Italy, Italian Alps, north-northwest of Turin. It is situated near the Italian entrance of the Mont Blanc Tunnel and the G ...

, northern

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 ...

, dedicated to Saint Ursus of Aosta. The original church had a single hall, delimited by a semicircular apse. It was entirely rebuilt during the 9th century, during the

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty ( ; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne, descendants of the Arnulfing and Pippinid c ...

age. Later, bishop Anselm of Aosta further renovated the church, introducing a basilica plan with three naves with wooden

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as Beam (structure), beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so ...

es. These were replaced by Gothic cross vaults in the 15th century.

Description

The church has a nave and two aisles divided by quadrangular pillars. The vault was rebuilt in the 15th century. Fragments of a Romanesque series of paintings are preserved in good condition in the space between the current vault and the original ceiling. These portray scenes from the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

as well as a martyrdom. Stylistically they resemble the bright colours and strongly marked outlines of some of the frescoes at the Galliano Basilica near Cantù. In the right aisles is a chapel housing the altar of St. Sebastian, also with frescoes (15th century). The

cloister A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open Arcade (architecture), arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle (architecture), quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cat ...

has historiated capitals depicting the life of Ursus. 37 of the 42 original capital remains: they were originally in white marble, though now they mostly appear in dark gray color after being washed with ash paint. The quadrangular-plan bell tower, dating to 989, has kept some of the lower of the original medieval structure. The present structure, in Romanesque style, dates to the 12th century and has a total height of . The church is home to numerous

missal A missal is a liturgical book containing instructions and texts necessary for the celebration of Mass throughout the liturgical year. Versions differ across liturgical tradition, period, and purpose, with some missals intended to enable a priest ...

s and

reliquaries A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', ''chasse'', or ''phylactery'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary, or the room in which one is stored, may also be called a ''feretory''. Relics may be the purported or actual physic ...

, including the

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

of Ursus, which rest in the

crypt A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...

. It also holds the relics of Saint Gratus of Aosta.

References

External links

Collegiate church and cloister of Saint Ursus

CENOBIUM - The Cloister of Saint Ursus in Aosta
9th-century churches in Italy Churches in Aosta Valley Buildings and structures in Aosta {{Aosta-RC-church-stub