Church of the Hermits, Padua, Italy

The Church of the Eremitani, or Church of the Hermits, is an Augustinian church of the 13th century. It was built in 1276 and dedicated to the saints Philip and James; it is however best known as degli Eremitani from the annexed old monastery, which now houses the municipal art gallery.

The chapel of SS. James and Christopher (Ovetari Chapel), formerly illustrated by Mantegna's frescoes, was largely destroyed by the Allies in World War II, because it was next to a German headquarters. There are more than 88000 fragments covering only 77 m2, while the original area covered several hundreds. Other artists whose frescoes are preserved in the church include Guariento and Ansuino da Forlì.

The church contains the tombs of Jacopo II da Carrara (d.1351) and Ubertino da Carrara (d.1345) da Carrara, lords of Padua, both by Andriolo de Santi (de Sanctis) and others. They were formerly in the church of Sant'Agostino, but were moved here after that church was razed in 1819.

References:

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Religious sites in Italy

User Reviews

silvio garola (15 months ago)
One of the best monument of the city

Alexander Wittek (2 years ago)
Very nice and interesting

robbierunciman (2 years ago)
Large space with epic statuary. The fresco are in recesses and almost take you by surprise There are parts missing but good Church is massive and still in use.

Luca Bellucci Sessa (2 years ago)
Beautiful gothic Church where you can see one of the masterpiece or the Renaissance: a fresco by Andrea Mantegna depicting the martydom or Saint Christopher, in the Ovetari chapel on the right nave. Despite being nearly destroyed during WW2 bombing It was partly restored in all its magnificent beauty, really awe-striking If you ain't seen Mantegna you can't understand the true Essence of Italy.

Oleg Naumov (3 years ago)
You can find here frescoes of Andrea Mantegna. Alas, they damaged because of allied air bombardment in 1944. There are always several tombs of XIV-XV centuries. Admission is free but any donation is welcomed and highly appreciated. Visitors are allowed to take non commercial photo without flash light.

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In 1151 King Konrad III ended a dispute over who should inherit Cochem Castle by laying siege to it and taking possession of it himself. That same year it became an official Imperial Castle (Reichsburg) subject to imperial authority. In 1282 it was Habsburg King Rudolf’s turn, when he conquered the Reichsburg Cochem and took it over. But just 12 years later, in 1294, the newest owner, King Adolf of Nassau pawned the castle, the town of Cochem and the surrounding region in order to finance his coronation. Adolf’s successor, Albrecht I, was unable to redeem the pledge and was forced to grant the castle to the archbishop in nearby Trier and the Electorate of Trier, which then administered the Reichsburg continuously, except for a brief interruption when Trier’s Archbishop Balduin of Luxembourg had to pawn the castle to a countess. But he got it back a year later.

The Electorate of Trier and its nobility became wealthy and powerful in large part due to the income from Cochem Castle and the rights to shipping tolls on the Moselle. Not until 1419 did the castle and its tolls come under the administration of civil bailiffs (Amtsmänner). While under the control of the bishops and electors in Trier from the 14th to the 16th century, the castle was expanded several times.

In 1688 the French invaded the Rhine and Moselle regions of the Palatinate, which included Cochem and its castle. French troops conquered the Reichsburg and then laid waste not only to the castle but also to Cochem and most of the other surrounding towns in a scorched-earth campaign. Between that time and the Congress of Vienna, the Palatinate and Cochem went back and forth between France and Prussia. In 1815 the western Palatinate and Cochem finally became part of Prussia once and for all.

Louis Jacques Ravené (1823-1879) did not live to see the completion of his renovated castle, but it was completed by his son Louis Auguste Ravené (1866-1944). Louis Auguste was only two years old when construction work at the old ruins above Cochem began in 1868, but most of the new castle took shape from 1874 to 1877, based on designs by Berlin architects. After the death of his father in 1879, Louis Auguste supervised the final stages of construction, mostly involving work on the castle’s interior. The castle was finally completed in 1890. Louis Auguste, like his father, a lover of art, filled the castle with an extensive art collection, most of which was lost during the Second World War.

In 1942, during the Nazi years, Ravené was forced to sell the family castle to the Prussian Ministry of Justice, which turned it into a law school run by the Nazi government. Following the end of the war, the castle became the property of the new state of Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate). In 1978 the city of Cochem bought the castle for 664,000 marks.

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