Bologna St Basil the Great Orthodox Church
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St Basil the Great Orthodox Church Photos
About St Basil the Great Orthodox Church
Erected in 1435 this was initially the church of Sant’ Ana whose holy relics were once kept here. The whole building is actually part of a convent at the back of this church but it was only in the 1700s when this additional space was realised. It’s now a school with various private offices on either side.
Just under this fresco is a particularly impressive art work illustrating a monastery. It’s a very unusual painting for the simple reason it actually recalls the origins of the first religious Order called Padri Certosini who came to Bologna from France.
Nearby, is the famous Certosa Cemetery which is where the Fathers were initially based but yet the name of Certosa has little or no significance in Bologna. Thus, the value of the painting in this church is reflected more in sentimental terms rather than a materialistic one.
The Padri Certosini or Carthusian Fathers moved here from their base in Certosa and shortly after undertook the project to expand it in a baroque style. They had it decorated in subtle colours mainly in sky-blue and green while the frescoes are attributed to Gioacchino Pizzoli including the L’Esaltazione della Fede completed in 1721.
Of great significance here are the paintings by Tiarini now hanging up in the sacristy. In 1797 the monastic community was suppressed and the Order abandoned the church. It was eventually shut down in 1808. The Order itself passed to the Istituto Magistrale Laura Bassi in 1860.
On either side are chapels still with their respective altars in place. Only by looking closely towards the bottom of the altars will you see the illustrious details and small sculptures set into them. Above, where there are now Orthodox icons were once ancient paintings. Many of these are currently on display in the Pinacoteca Museum, having been taken down when the monks abandoned the church.
In 1973 the building was taken over by Orthodox monks from Moscow under the leadership of the Patriarch Evloghi and the church was dedicated to St Basil the Great. In 1975 Marco Davitti took over as pastor after returning from theological studies in the US.
Icons dedicated to various saints here include works of art sent from Romania while painters from Russia and Bulgaria worked in-situ.