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Santa Croce in Fossabanda is a
The region where the monastery was founded had been swampy and dredged initially by the 11-12th-century into a series of moats, hence the name of ''Fossabandi''. By 1238, a Dominican convent had been founded at the site.
In the 14th-century, reconstruction was designed by Bartolomeo da Cantone. From about 1332, the monks began to occupy the safer, central site adjacent to the church of San Silvestro, located inside the city walls. In 1426, the complex was again refurbished, this time under the 
Santa Croce in Fossabanda is a Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
-style 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 ...
church and monastery in Pisa
Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...
, region of Tuscany
Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence.
Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...
, Italy.
History
The region where the monastery was founded had been swampy and dredged initially by the 11-12th-century into a series of moats, hence the name of ''Fossabandi''. By 1238, a Dominican convent had been founded at the site.
In the 14th-century, reconstruction was designed by Bartolomeo da Cantone. From about 1332, the monks began to occupy the safer, central site adjacent to the church of San Silvestro, located inside the city walls. In 1426, the complex was again refurbished, this time under the Franciscan order
The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...
. A portico was added to the facade, and the cloister was erected. Traces of 16th-century frescoes remain in the lunettes of the cloister.
The church contain a canvas of the ''Madonna and Child with Angelic Musicians'' by the early 15th-century painter Alvaro Pirez di Evora. On the lateral altars are paintings ''St Francis and a Child'' and ''Angel and Madonna''(1649) by Jacopo Vignali
Jacopo Vignali (September 5, 1592 – August 3, 1664) was an Italian painter of the early Baroque period.
Biography
Vignali was born in Pratovecchio, near Arezzo, and initially trained under Matteo Rosselli. He painted the ceiling fresco of the ...
. Other works are a ''Blessed Salvatore da Orta Franciscan cures the ill and sick'' (circa 1606) by Paolo Guidotti
Cavaliere Paolo Guidotti, also known as il Cavalier Borghese (Lucca, 1559 - 1629) was an Italian painter, sculptor and architect, active in Rome, Lucca, Pisa, Reggio Emilia, Napoli.
Biography
He was described as having a ''ingegno bizzarro'', br ...
and a ''St Francis prays before the Apparition of Christ and the Madonna'' (after 1627) by Francesco Curradi
Francesco Curradi or Currado (15 November 1570 – 1661) was an Italian painter of the style described as Counter-''Maniera'' or Counter-Mannerism, born and active in Florence.
Biography
Curradi was the son of a jeweller, Taddeo. He trained un ...
. It holds a wooden crucifix from the 15th century.
Previously a chapel held an altarpiece was a ''St John the Baptist'' by Clemente Bocciardi.Pandolfo Titi, (1751), page 297. A ''Madonna and Child with Saints Antony Abbot, Pope Gregory, John the Baptist, and Francis'' is now displayed in the Museo di San Matteo.
In 1810, Napoleonic governments suppressed the monastery. A ''Coronation of the Virgin'' (1474) was looted by Napoleonic forces and is now in the Dijon Museum
Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920.
The earliest archaeological finds ...
. By 1875, the convent had been expropriated and was used as a Lazzaretto
A lazaretto ( ), sometimes lazaret or lazarette ( ), is a quarantine station for maritime travelers. Lazarets can be ships permanently at anchor, isolated islands, or mainland buildings. In some lazarets, postal items were also disinfected, usu ...
during the cholera
Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...
epidemic of that year. The cloister is now a hotel.
See also
References
Sources
*Anna Maria Amonaci, Conventi toscani dell'Osservanza francescana, Firenze, Silvana 1997 *Daniela Stiaffini, Silvia Pagnin, S. Croce in Fossabanda, Pisa, ETS 2004 *Angelo Eugenio Mecca, Il convento di S. Croce in Fossabanda e l'Osservanza francescana a Pisa, Pontedera, CLD Libri 2011External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Croce Pisa Roman Catholic churches in Pisa 15th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Buildings and structures completed in 1426 Churches completed in the 1420s Renaissance architecture in Pisa