Description
The Church of San Frediano is a Romanesque church in the center of Pisa, on the square of the same name, a short walk from Piazza dei Cavalieri: since 1999 it has been the university students' church, run by the Jesuits. It's worth a stop for its medieval façade and a 12th-century crucifix.
The façade, stepped to follow the roofs, repeats the cathedral's blind arches, lozenges and play of two colors. The lintel of the main portal is a reused 4th-century Roman cornice.
Inside, three naves stand on columns with Romanesque capitals. In the first chapel on the left is the painted, shaped-panel Crucifix from the mid-12th century, with Ventura Salimbeni's canvases on the Cross; behind the altar are the choir stalls, carved in 1570 for Santo Stefano dei Cavalieri.
After a fire in 1675 the church was given a Baroque vault and apse. The restoration completed in 1964 brought the Romanesque forms back to light, but the central nave kept its 17th-century barrel vault.
The façade, stepped to follow the roofs, repeats the cathedral's blind arches, lozenges and play of two colors. The lintel of the main portal is a reused 4th-century Roman cornice.
Inside, three naves stand on columns with Romanesque capitals. In the first chapel on the left is the painted, shaped-panel Crucifix from the mid-12th century, with Ventura Salimbeni's canvases on the Cross; behind the altar are the choir stalls, carved in 1570 for Santo Stefano dei Cavalieri.
After a fire in 1675 the church was given a Baroque vault and apse. The restoration completed in 1964 brought the Romanesque forms back to light, but the central nave kept its 17th-century barrel vault.