Santa Maria in Araceli, Vicenza, Italy

The church of Santa Maria in Araceli is a late-Baroque style church built in the late 17th century in Vicenza according to designs attributed to Guarino Guarini. Construction of the present church was begun during 1672-1680, a period during which the famous architect Guarino Guarini resided in Vicenza under the patronage of the Theatines. In 1965, designs for the church were found in the Vatican Library. Construction seems to have been guided by Carlo Borella. It was about 60 years after the start of construction, on November 17, 1743, that the church was consecrated. In 1810, during the Napoleonic occupation, the convent was expropriated, and the church became a parish church.

The main baroque altar (1696), was carved in marble by Tommaso Bezzi . It contains an altarpiece representing the Tiburtine Sybil who portends the coming Virgin and Child to the Roman Emperor Augustus attributed to Pietro Liberi . The altar on the right has a 13th-century painted crucifix, originally from church of San Vito.

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User Reviews

Sophia Ogieriakhi (2 years ago)
Am a Nigerian and I want to start santa Maria for the first time with my children . Please I want to know the time. I love to go to Catholic.

natalia malanetchii (5 years ago)
good

cristiano marzola (5 years ago)
Da visitare ... Stupenda e unica nel stile .consiglio con guida da effettuare il camminamento sopra le volte

Francesco Carta (5 years ago)
One among Vicenza's most beautiful,iconic and representative churches,albeit not the most ancient. Too bad they have very limited opening hours.

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The stone church of Gamla Uppsala, built over the pagan temple, dates from the early 12th century. Due to fire and renovations, the present church is only a remnant of the original cathedral.

Before the arrival of Christianity in Sweden, Gamla Uppsala was the seat of Swedish kings and a ceremonial site known all over northern Europe. The settlement was home to royal palaces, a royal burial ground, and a great pagan temple. The Uppsala temple, which was described in detail by Adam of Bremen in the 1070s, housed wooden statues of the Norse gods Odin, Thor and Freyr. A golden chain hung across its gables and the inside was richly decorated with gold. The temple had priests, who sacrificed to the gods according to the needs of the people.

The first Christian cathedral was probably built in the 11th century, but finished in the 12th century. The stone building may have been preceded by a wooden church and probably by the large pagan temple.

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