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Basilica of
San Frediano in Lucca
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The
church of San Frediano in Lucca is not a simple church,
but an ancient basilica dating back thousands of years. To see
it you are really amazed. That great mosaic, at the top of the
main façade, almost seems to want to touch the sky and rise to
it to confuse its colors and probably the spirit. The building
has medieval origins, while its mosaic dates back seven
centuries later. The complex is monumental, although collected
in the small square that bears its name; the mosaic, the
interior architecture, the cycle of Renaissance frescoes and the
exquisite sculptural works, make San Frediano one of the most
beautiful churches in Italy. The current basilica, in
Romanesque style, was begun in the first XII century and
consecrated in 1147 by Pope Eugene III.
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 Its foundations are however much older, of the sixth
century, and are traced back to the same San
Frediano bishop, probably born in Ireland in 500
and died in that of Lucca 88 years later. It is said
that in Tuscany he arrived around 566, on his return
from a pilgrimage to Rome. On the way back he
decided to stop and retire as a hermit in the Monti
Pisani, between the towns of
Lucca and
Pisa. As the
story tells us for the
The Holy Face of Lucca (Volto Santo) , the life of San
Frediano and the church dedicated to him are linked
to the diocese of Luni, which once gathered the
religious congregation of part of the territory
located between Tuscany and Liguria. Luni today, as
is known, no longer exists, but once it was a
thriving city and port, situated not far from the
current
Sarzana.
 It
happened so that Frediano became bishop of Luni. On his return from
Rome, the saint decided to take refuge in these mountains, already dotted
with medieval villages (today we can see the remains of ancient
fortifications), in search of the necessary spiritual isolation; a choice
which, however, did not make the citizens to be elected bishop desist,
following the divine intervention that popular tradition attributes to him:
it was thanks to the indications of Frediano that the river Serchio,
the ancient Auser, gently diverted the route to avoid the umpteenth
flooding. Whether it was the work of the divine or the fruit of the
hydraulic experiences that probably the saint possessed, we are not informed
(in fact, it is documented that the locality of Migliarino Pisano had
the opportunity to take advantage of the hydraulic knowledge of Frediano in
575), what is known is that the land freed from the waters was located just
outside the oldest walls of Lucca, those of Roman origin: that became the
chosen place to build a building The church was built to the west and just
outside the walls, as was traditionally the case for funerary basilicas, and
in time it was known as Basilica Langobardorum.
 The
western façade is certainly the first point of
visual impact to capture the visitor's gaze. However,
perhaps it does not come from the centre of the
city, that is to say from the interior, but from the
tree-lined avenue along the walls and from that
short pedestrian (and cycle path) descent, almost
randomly sought after between the red roofs and the
ochre walls of the houses, adjacent to the garden of
Palazzo Pfanner. The longiline bell tower,
flanked by the apse and distinguished from the body
of the apse, dictates the direction. Down from the
walls and turning the corner around the structure,
the small Piazza San Frediano offers a good
view of the exceptionally high bell tower. The apse
has a circular shape and is decorated with
horizontal and irregular strips of white and red
marble. The bell tower has an increasing number of
windows on each level, from one to four, and is
decorated by a typical Ghibelline dovetail
crenellation (described from the so-called "guelph",
whose top is square). Although Guelphs and
Ghibellines actually used these architectural
divisions for purely distinctive reasons, it is also
true that in the following years the battlements
were built at the discretion of the designers.
 The
basilica of San Frediano was remodelled several times over the centuries,
but today's appearance will still be mostly medieval. The initial project
was for a church with three naves, without a transept or crypt (according to
the trends linked to Gregorian reforms that were being formed during the
period). The façade was also built contrary to the rule that imposed the
apse facing east. Originally, the church was also lower than the present one
and was built in the 13th century to make room for the mosaic that can be
admired today in the upper part of the façade. The mosaic is in Byzantine
style and is probably the work of the painting workshop of Berlinghieri
of Lucca; it depicts the Ascension of Christ, with angels to carry the
throne upwards, and with the Twelve Apostles to look down. Berlinghieri were
very active artists in Lucca and the mosaic is attributed to Berlinghiero
Berlinghieri, a native of
Volterra and active in Lucca between 1228 and
1232. Other works in the city are due to him, including the Cross of Lucca (painted
in tempera and gold of about 1230), housed at the
Guinigi
Museum, and
a Madonna with Child, today at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Of his son, Bonaventura Berlinghieri, is instead the splendid painting
of St. Francis and stories of his life, housed in the Church of St. Francis in
Pescia.
 The
interior of the church is divided by columns
imported from Rome (as was often the case at that
time) and whose capitals derive instead from the
Roman amphitheatre that was once present in
Lucca. The whole is appreciated for the space and
the sense of balance given by Romanesque
architecture and the discretion of the works of art
present. You will immediately notice the fresco
cuspidato that depicts the Martyrdom of Saints
Vincent, Stephen and Lorenzo, of the twelfth century,
one of the oldest examples of medieval painting in
Lucca. The artistic sensibility is struck by a
marble work, the baptismal font of the church of
San Frediano: it is unusual at the time that a
church not erected as a cathedral could have the
privilege of baptizing, so much so that it is said
that perhaps the same work originally constituted a
Lustrale fountain outside the building. The fineness
of the processing used is certainly unbelievable,
which, as if by magic and subtlety of detail
 has
brought to posterity this masterpiece considered
among the most prestigious of Romanesque art. The
baptismal font was shattered during the 19th century
and then rebuilt in the middle of the last century
thanks to the existing drawings. It consists of a
round bathtub and a smaller one inside it, supported
by a central pillar and eight external panels.
Overall, the work is the work of three master
sculptors: one Lombard, unknown, sculpted six of the
panels, those that represent the stories of Moses;
the remaining panels were carved by a certain
Robertus, the only one who left his signature
(Me Fecit Robertus Magister in Peritus art), in
Byzantine style and depicting the Good Shepherd and
six prophets. A third artist, probably a Tuscan,
worked on the most central cup carving it with more
classical motifs.
On the side, in a chapel near the baptismal font, we find the tomb of
Santa Zita (of 1278), whose mummified body has remained uncorrupted and
still visible in the transparent shrine. Zita was a devout Christian from
Lucca, who lived in the 13th century. The legend presents the saint as a
thief of a noble family and has become such as to feed the poor of his city.
On April 27th in Lucca is still remembered today the miracle of
Santa Zita, with flowers and plants to pay homage to the saint in the
streets of the old town (between the basilica of San Frediano, where the
saint often loved to go, and the Roman amphitheater): according to legend
Zita are attributed several miracles, the best known is perhaps what
suddenly transformed the bread stolen by her to the rich family where he
Tradition has it that every year the people of Lucca exchange blessed
narcissuses as a sign of mercy.
 The
Basilica of San Frediano is also linked to Jacopo
della Quercia, which in Lucca was active around
the beginning of 1400 and to which we owe also the
famous Funeral Monument to Ilaria del Carretto,
housed in the
Cathedral of San Martino. His sculptures are
related to the Trenta family, a wealthy and ancient
merchant family of Lucca, the Altare Trenta
(273x303 cm), a splendid polyptych in Carrara marble,
the Tombstone slab of Lisabetta Onesti
(244x123 cm) and the Tombstone slab of Lorenzo
Trenta (247x122 dm). It is said that in 1412 the
artist began designing the Cappella Trenta in the
basilica of San Frediano after having been contacted
by Lorenzo Trenta, but that a few months later he
was accused, together with his assistant Giovanni
da Imola, of the rape of a young girl in the
place. Jacopo della Quercia fled to Siena, where he
worked on the creation of other masterpieces, and
only after a few years, thanks to a safe-conduct he
could return to Lucca and continue the work.
 In
front of the altar of Della Quercia there is a wooden work from the 14th
century, a lonely and elegant Virgin announced. Just a little further
on, in the chapel of the Cross one can see the frescoes by Amico
Aspertini, rich in evangelical themes and episodes from the life of
Saint Augustine. Among these are also appreciated the representation of the'
Miracle of San Frediano' and of the' Transfer of the Holy Face to Lucca', as
narrated in the Legenda Leobiniana, 1508.
Other works of art enrich the Basilica of San Frediano, but all that remains
is to discover which ones. You can visit San Frediano in any day of the
visit to Lucca, but if you can not miss to participate in the Luminaria
di Santa Croce, in September that takes back the miraculous itinerary of
the Holy Face in Lucca, in the traditional route that from the Basilica of
San Frediano arrives to the cathedral.
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