Church of San Frediano

Facciata - Chiesa di San Frediano (Lara Corevi)

The style of Busketo, to whom the construction of the building is attributed, is clearly evident in the façade of the church, characterised by innovations similar to those present on the façade of the Cathedral. The material used is mostly tuff, with marble inserts, often reclaimed, such as the decorated lintel, datable to the 4th century. The interior of the building has three naves with Romanesque and reclaimed columns and capitals. On the left, in the chapel of the Holy Cross, there is a beautiful painted cross from the second half of the 12th century, in which we can still see the characteristic hieratic position of the body of Christ, devoid of suffering and with a clear face, characterised by open eyes. It's a Cristo Triumphans (Triumphing Christ), opposite to a Christ Patiens (Suffering Christ), with closed eyes, full of emotional meanings, capable of moving the observer. In the side chapels there are works of great artistic value, such as the Annunciation by Ventura Salimbeni from 1610 or the Adoration of the Magi, a work from 1604 by Aurelio Lomi. Noteworthy is the monumental sepulchre of Giovanni Battista Ruschi, in black marble, with skeletons and inscriptions, completed in 1653 and the confessionals in slate.

History in a nutshell: Of the Church, originally dedicated to San Martino and San Frediano, we have evidence starting from 1061, together with the hospitium pauperum, hospice for the poor, located near the church of the poor, active until 1401. The building, entrusted to the Camaldolese, was granted to the Knights of Santo Stefano by Cosimo I de’ Medici and completely renovated. In 1675, a fire destroyed the wooden ceiling, replaced with a vault, still visible. Unfortunately, many of the works preserved inside have been sold or stolen. Today, the building is known as the college students’ church, due to its proximity to the Sapienza and the Scuola Normale Superiore.

The strange inscription: On the left of the entrance portal of the church, at eye level, we can see Greek characters, † ɱ⧩h⧩Ʌ⧩, present on two other monuments of the city, the Baptistery of San Giovanni and the Church of SS. Cosma and Damiano. The remains of the latter are kept in the museum of San Matteo. Many scholars have tried to unravel its meaning, formulating numerous hypotheses: ɱisteryum hoc Ʌrcano, ɱisteryum hoc Ʌugustum, ɱalum hic Ʌverte, o Ʌrceat. Mysteries, months or warnings. Further reading identified the word ɱichaeɅ, where ɱ is equivalent to mu, h is equivalent to eta and Ʌ to lambda, thus obtaining an invocation, Latinised from the Greek, to Archangel Michael, connecting our church to the Leyline of St. Michael, the sacred line of St. Michael, which connects some religious buildings from Ireland to Greece. Finally, the reading from right to left and the vocalisation of the three triangles, like in the Semitic languages, gives us the word eLoHiM, biblical term with a meaning of divinity, coming from Elohah, the only God of Israel.