Saint John of Prè, Genoa, Liguria, Italy, Europe
The complex of San Giovanni di Prè, known as the commendation of San Giovanni di Pre, is a Catholic place of worship in the streets of Genoa site of the Commandery, in the district of Pré, near the train station Genova Principe. The complex consists of two churches in Romanesque style, overlapping each other, which form the bulk of the architectural body, and a three-story building, the commendation, namely the convent and hospitable (ground floor rooms) which he absolved the dual function of the marine station on the routes of the Holy Land and of the hospital (ospitaletto), initially for pilgrims and later for the sick and the destitute of the city. While the convent, the hospitality and the lower church is now used for exhibitions and expositions, included in the museum's Mu.MA, the upper church, dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, is however still a place of worship whose parish community It is part of the vicariate Central-West of the Archdiocese of Genoa. The current complex was manufactured from 1180 to the mouth of the Rio S.Ugo, a short stream, now fully covered, coming down the hill behind. In this area, originally facing the sea, once it stood a church dedicated to the Holy Sepulcher, built according to some sources in 636, although the first evidence documented is 1098, when there were laid the alleged ashes of John the Baptist, transported here from the east at the time of the First Crusade, before they were transferred to the Cathedral of San Lorenzo. The church belonged to the Order of the Canons of the Holy Sepulchre; with the fall of the Christian kingdom of Jerusalem Order it was dispersed and its properties in Italy passed to the Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem. The foundation of the complex, which was mainly used as a shelter for pilgrims to the Holy Land at the time of the Crusades (from Genoa sailed fact in those years the Third Crusade) was commissioned by Brother William, a member of the Knights Jerusalemites, body in 1420 He would give life to the Order of the Knights of Malta. The building, then called Saint John de Arenas understand, at the time of its construction was located outside the city walls, in a still sparsely populated, and was included within the walls only with the expansion fourteenth . The hospitable of San Giovanni di Pre throughout the Middle Ages was an important point of contact between the land routes from Northern Italy and more generally from all over Western Europe and the routes from Genoa brought in all the ports of the Mediterranean . For centuries it was a point of reference for all those, knights, soldiers, merchants, clergymen and pilgrims, who for various reasons passing from here heading to the shores of North Africa, Asia Minor and the Holy Land. Piazza della Commenda are facing the most elaborate architectural structures: the loggias of the convent and the south side of the church where it opens a series of mullioned windows. The upper church, no facade, in the Middle Ages was used for the exclusive use of the knights Jerusalemites, who entered directly from the porch floor and the bottom was destined to pilgrims and residents, although at that time the area was not yet very populated; in the eighteenth century, the upper church became a place of public worship and the lower seat of confraternities. A passage from the hall-dormitory floor led directly to a nearby harbor, so the riders could embark without leaving the building. A plaque commemorates the stay of Pope Urban V 13 to 20 May 1367, during his return trip from Avignon. For over a year, between 1385 and 1386, he stayed there Urban VI. This pope, who fled from the castle of Nocera, where he was besieged by the troops of Charles III, King of Naples, had taken refuge in Genoa carrying prisoners as some cardinals who had conspired against him, and that just at the Commandery were executed in December 1385 (or January 1386) and buried in a place next to the church. Their remains were found in 1829 during construction in an area adjacent to the complex. Originally, the complex formed by the lower church and the hospital was probably named after the patron saint of the Hospitallers, St. John the Baptist, and only at the beginning of the seventeenth century there are records of the title to St. John the Evangelist, while the upper church was called S . Maria. Over time, there were other changes of name: from 1697 the title of St. John the Evangelist went to the upper church and the lower was dedicated to Saint Hugh, until the first half of the two titles were united. Because of the laws of suppression of religious orders issued in 1798 by the Republic Ligure complex, excluding the upper church it was expropriated by the government and used for various purposes. In 1834 a part of the lower church was granted leased to the congregation of the Gospel workers franzoniani.