Basilica of San Giacomo Maggiore

Coordinates: 44°29′44.01″N 11°20′56.05″E / 44.4955583°N 11.3489028°E / 44.4955583; 11.3489028

The Basilica of San Giacomo Maggiore is an historic Roman Catholic church in Bologna, region of Emilia Romagna, Italy, serving a monastery of Augustinian friars. It was built starting in 1267 and houses, among the rest, the Bentivoglio Chapel, featuring numerous Renaissance artworks.

History

A community of hermits founded by the Blessed John the Good of Modena had established itself near the walls of Bologna, along the Savena river, as early as 1247. They founded a monastery with its church, dedicated to St. James the Greater (Italian: San Giacomo Maggiore). The hermits were merged in 1256 by the pope with other eremetical communities of the region to form the Order of Hermits of St. Augustine, with one of their number being elected the first Prior General of the new Order. As they then needed a larger religious complex within the walls, in 1267 construction was undertaken of the new church in the present location. The edifice was finished in 1315, but its consecration took place in 1344, with the completion of the apse section. The church, built in sober Romanesque style (with some Gothic elements such as the ogival windows), had a single nave with visible trusses and ended with a polygonal apse-chapel and two square chapel.

San Giacomo

San Giacomo (Italian for Saint James) may refer to a number of churches and settlements (usually named after churches), including:

Churches

Places in Italy

San Giacomo (Valle Castellana)

San Giacomo is a mountain village in the Province of Teramo in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It is a frazione of the comune of Valle Castellana.

Geography

San Giacomo lies at an altitude of 1105 m, within the Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park. The town takes its name from the presence of an ancient building, belonging to the monastery of San Giacomo, which once sat at a slightly lower elevation. This building served as a refuge for workers who once tilled the landholdings in the area that belonged to the church. One ridge in this area still carries the name Costa del prevosto (Ridge of the Provost) in reference to this fact.

Borders

San Giacomo is situated on the border of the Italian regions of Abruzzo and Marche. Prior to the formation of the united Italy in 1861, this land served at the point of demarcation between the Kingdom of Two Sicilies and the Vatican State.

One marker stone dated 1847 identifies a boundary, probably first delineated by Ruggiero II in the twelfth century, dividing the holdings of the leaders of Rome with those of the Neapolitans. The remains of several customs checkpoints have also been unearthed nearby. At one point they likely served to control the passage of contraband between these two rival states. These checkpoints in turn were likely built on the remains of a still older Catholic hermitage. German soldiers made use of this area in the latter part of World War II as they fought their losing battles against the local Italian partisan forces.