MUNICIPALITY: Amalfi
NAME: Church and Convent of St. Francis (Hotel Luna)
LOCATION: Via S. Antonio.
DESCRIPTION: Of the old convent of St. Francis, only the cloister and church survive unaltered in architectural form, as the structures of the actual convent have been adapted to a hotel.
The cloister, which is also architecturally influenced by Franciscan simplicity, shows on the garden side a row of simple, slightly pointed arches on twinned columns; the only lightening of the elevation is provided by circular openings above the arches. In the center, the well-curb recalls monks’ footsteps that still seem to echo under the cross vaults, which cover the side galleries.
The well-preserved church, on the other hand, shows the Baroque appearance that hides the simple features of Franciscan churches.
Built in 1220 (it is connected to a visit by the Saint of Assisi, commemorated by a modern tombstone on the exterior), on structures of an earlier church, it consists of a single nave with cross vaults, with ribs, resting on stucco pilasters that end in highly projecting cornices.
On the side walls are 18th-century canvases, decorating the minor altars, and a small wooden statue of St. Roch housed in a niche. The marble high altar contains a 17th-century painting of the Marriage of Mary and Joseph and is surrounded by the wooden choir from 1593.
The two-room crypt below contains burials (a third-century AD sarcophagus, and a tombstone from 1300) and on one altar a wooden altarpiece with scenes from the life of St. Francis.
SEE, VISIT, FIND: The convent and cloister, being a hotel, cannot be visited, while the church is open during religious services.
FRUITION DATA : None
OPPORTUNITIES: It would be possible to make at least the cloister visitable, illustrating it from the outside through traditional information media.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: (a c.) GARGANO O., Amalfi la città famosa, la città da scoprire, Amalfi 1995.
BEDINI G. B., Le abbazie cistercensi d’Italia, Roma 1964
