The Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul

The story of Agliate

Agliate is a small town in Brianza,Its location favoured the

settlement of people over thecenturies. With the missionary

presence of Saint Ambrose,Christianity started spreading

and the church of Agliatebecame a landmark for

religious people. Only in thischurch could people be baptized. From the 9th to the 11th centurythe baptistery was built and the

church took the name of “Basilicaof SS. Peter and Paul”.

Restoration works

The shape of the Basilica, as we see it today, is the result

of extensive restoration works carried out since the

16th century, so it is difficult to identify the

original characteristics of the church.

There were three doors in the façade but only one of them was in use. The bell-tower

did not exist.

Only the nave was covered with a

roof, there was no floor orpavement and only the main

apsewas frescoed; the church waspaved with poor materials in1587. In the first half of the17th century the bell-tower

wasbuilt, but in the 19th century it

was demolished, rebuilt and accomplished in 1900.

From 1724 to 1759 the plan ofthe Basilica became cruciform:

the first two arches of the nave

were destroyed to create atransept.

A new sacristy was built between

the church and the baptistery,which was consolidated in the

19th century.Later the floor was covered in

terracotta.

The Façade

From the church square we can admire the façade, which repeats the church’s three-

nave structure.The central door was rebuilt in

1894. It is bordered by ancient jambs decorated

with osier tangles.

The Inside

The interior of the basilica has one nave and two aisles with wooden beamed ceiling and a presbitery over a crypt with a barrel roof.

Not a single column, or base, or capital is the

same as another.The capital of the last column but one on the

left has a carving of two dolphins drinking from a Kantharos from which a

trident (Neptune’s sceptre) sticks out.

The inside of the basilicais rich in symbols: thewindows are 33, theyears spent by Jesus

Christ on the earth, thecolumns are 6 and the

arches 7. They recall the6 days of the creationand the 7° day of rest.

The naves are 3,symbolysing the trinity.

The CryptFrom the left-hand aisle, going

past an altar wich contains saint Biagio’s relics, we go

down the crypt which is dedicated to St. Andrew the

Apostle.The ceiling with cross vaults is

supported on little stone coloumns with capitals. One of these is of white marble,

it is an example of Carolingian sculpture and

dates back to the 9th century.

In past times women could not enter it. They were allowed to watch services through

the two mullioned windows with two lights.

The Frescoes

The surviving medieval frescoes can be admired from the

bottom of the stairs leading up to the main altar.

The presbitery, with its rectangular plan and its barrel vault, has

some frescoes.It is possible to see:

• Christ the judge, with the right hand lifted to

administer justice;• The Eagle which represents the apostle

John the Baptist.

On the left side of the central nave there is a small frescoed section

which suggests that the frescoes were on two

levels and they showed scenes from the Old

Testament in the upper row, from the New

Testament in the lower. They date back to the

10th century.In the middle, inside a circle, there is

God the father.On the nearby wall there is a fresco

depicting “our lady of milk”.On the left aisle, deprived of windows,

there is a fresco portraying the blessed Virgin of graces. She is sitting on a throne with the holy Child on her lap. They hold a flower in their hands: the Virgin a twig of roses and the holy child a lily. The Virgin has fair hair and

a melancholy look.

The Baptistery

The baptistery is famous for itsenneagonal plan and its cycle

of frescoes.In the middle there is the characteristic octagonal font

for baptismal immersion.

On the barrel vault there are two images of SS. Andrea

and Giacomo, two apostoles of Christ; to their right there

is St. Onofrio. To the right of the main door

there is the Deposition of Christ.

These frescoes represent Jesus who gives the

Keys to Saint Peter and a Madonna with a child.

The holy child is revealing to his mother his

passion and death and dates back to the first

years of the 14th century.

Bibliography

http://web.tiscali.it/no-redirect-tiscali/scuolabaroni/agliate.html

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