Sant'Agostino, Rimini

Sant'Agostino is a Romanesque-Gothic-style Roman Catholic church located in Via Cairoli #14, in Rimini, Italy. It is one of the older extant church buildings in Rimini.

Church front with marble tomb of Gian Battista Paci on the lower right of the façade.

History

A small parish church or oratory at the site dates to the 1069, originally dedicated to San Giovanni Evangelista. In 1247, with the establishment of monks of the Augustinian order the church was rededicated.

In January 20, 1498, Pandolfo IV Malatesta, then lord of Rimini, sought refuge from a conspiracy to assassinate him called the congiura degli Adimari. He was rescued by some followers, and the conspirators were hung from the walls of the nearby Rocca.

The building was refurbished in 1618 through 1626. In 1797, after the suppression of the order, the church served as cathedral from 1798 to 1809, then it became again the parish church of San Giovanni Evangelista. The reconstruction of the convent, begun in 1787 with designs by Giuseppe Achilli, was never completed. The facade also remains incomplete in brick. On the left of the outer wall of the facade, a marble monument holds the remains of Gian Battista Paci, cavaliere di Santo Stefano, who died in 1615.[1] A 55 meter bell-tower with a piramidal top is at the rear of the church.[2]

Interior decorations

To the right of the entrance is the neoclassical funereal monument to Alberto Mattioli, designed by Luigi Poletti and with a bas-relief sculpted by Pietro Tenerani.

An inventory from 1864 found in the church, the following works:[3]

Fragments of frescoes, circa 1300, attributed to Giovanni da Rimini, a follower of Giotto, are found in the main chapel and the bell-tower. After the earthquake of 1916, frescoes attributed to the Maestro dell'Arengo, came to light, depicting the Life of the Saint and the Last Judgement. The latter fresco is now displayed in the Civic Museum on Via Tonini. [4]

References

Coordinates: 44°03′34″N 12°33′58″E / 44.0594°N 12.5661°E / 44.0594; 12.5661

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