IMMERSIVE POINT OF INTEREST

St. Mary’s Basilica in Valvendra

Santa Maria in Valvendra, the largest church in the diocese of Brescia, stands at the northern end of Lovere, outside the Borgo that developed between the 15th and 16th centuries beyond the 14th-century walls.

The church was commissioned as a votive sanctuary dedicated to the Vergine delle Grazie by the families of the Borgo, who had become considerably rich from trading in the well-known Lovere cloth.

Beginning in 1473, perhaps consuming some pre-existing structures, the erection of the imposing church began. For the construction it was necessary to divert the Valvendra stream, after which the church that now stands in the middle of the old riverbed is named.
In 1513–1514, it was decided to found a monastery of Observant Franciscans, who had already been officiating in the church since at least the 1580s, along with an adjoining wool mill for the production of monk’s cloth that continued on until 1779. The church was finally consecrated on 2nd August 1520.
Construction began in late Gothic forms then continued in Renaissance styling in the Lombard-Venetian mode. The exterior has a bare façade, punctuated by four buttresses and preceded by a portico with cross vaults embellished with graffito.

The interior has three naves, divided by twelve columns, with chapels on the left side. The central nave is covered by a barrel vault completely frescoed with coffered ceiling, whilst the smaller ones by cross vaults. The marble high altar (1719–1720), made by Andrea Fantoni, features a little throne for displaying the Eucharist. In the background, the altarpiece is contained within a grandiose gilded wooden frame dating back to 1592 and depicts the Assumption, having been made by painter Tommaso Bona. The 16th-century wooden choir with Carthusian-style inlays is the work of Clemente Zamara. On the left wall is the organ, made in 1518 for the Duomo Vecchio in Brescia, then transferred to Lovere in the second half of the 17th century. The case is characterised by the two doors protecting the façade painted, on the outside by Ferramola with the Annunciation and on the inside by Alessandro Bonvicino, known as “il Moretto”, with equestrian portraits of Saints Faustino and Giovita, Patrons of Brescia. There are nine side chapels, seven of which open to the left side of the nave, built in the first decade of the 16th century, and two in the end walls of the smaller naves.

For more information…
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