Photo: Gino il Pio, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Abbey / Monastery
Chiesa di San Bernardino da Siena
Church building in Amantea, Italy
At a glance
- Type
- Abbey / Monastery
- Style
- Gothic architecture
- Dedicated to
- Bernardino of Siena
- Protection
- Italian national heritage
- Coordinates
- 39°08′05″ N, 16°04′43″ E
- Address
- Via San Bernardino
History and description
The Church of San Bernardino da Siena is a Catholic place of worship in the Italian municipality of Amantea, in the province of Cosenza in Calabria. It is situated 34 metres (112 ft) above sea level on the street of the same name in the Tyrrhenian town.
The church, dating back to the first half of the 15th century and declared a national monument, is flanked by another smaller place of worship once home to the archconfraternity of the Immaculate Conception, the Oratory of the Nobles, and the convent of the Friars Minor, founded in 1436 and occupied again by the friars since 1995, after their last departure from the building in 1861.
History
The foundation of the Amantean convent of Observant Friars Minor in the Rota district was authorized by Pope Eugene IV with the Papal brief given in Bologna on September 24, 1436: the pope probably took an interest in the matter, which was of a merely local character, due to the intervention of his private steward, the Amantean nobleman Giovanni Cozza. The minor observants had already settled in other localities in Calabria, where the order had been brought by Blessed Tommaso Bellacci from Florence: in Tropea and Cosenza in 1421, in Mesoraca in 1428, in Reggio Calabria in 1431, and in Cinquefrondi in 1436.
In all these cases, observant minors had occupied places of worship abandoned by other religious orders: this was probably also the case in Amantea. In fact, the Papal Brief signed by Eugene IV mentions, as noted by the scholar Francesco Samà, a "licentia acceptandi" ("permission to accept") the convent, that is, a convent probably already existed and did not need to be built, since the University and the citizens of Amantea had offered those abandoned locations to the Observants. In addition, the old church bell, currently preserved in the cloister of the convent, bears an inscription that dates the first casting of it to 1404. Finally, scholar Alessandro Tedesco has identified in a notarial deed concerning the making of the marble diptych for the oratory of the Nobles, dated 1491, evidence that about sixty years after the settlement of the Observants in the convent and the consequent dedication of the church to St. Bernardine of Siena, the population continued to call the church by its ancient name of "monasterium Sancti Francisci de Amantea." From all this, it is inferred that the first occupants of the convent had been some minor conventual friars who had abandoned the Franciscan monastery located in the Catocastro district at the foot of Amantea's castle near the church of St. Francis of Assisi, now in ruins. …
Description
The entrance porch of the church is framed between the bell tower and the northwest corner of the convent, the one that houses the oratory of the Nobles: it is raised two metres (6.6 ft) above the ground, and is accessed via a staircase that tends to narrow upward. Interventions in 1953 restored the porch to its original 15th-century appearance, with the five ogival arches supported by twin polygonal pillars with drop capitals mounted on high plinths, all in local sandstone: after the 1783 earthquake, in fact, the central archway, the one giving access to the porch, had been converted to a round arch in the form of a serlian, with the benefit of making the church's entrance portal visible but the downside of upsetting the architecture of the porch. Originally, the porch was open on two sides, but after the 1638 earthquake, the relocation of the bell tower forced the closure of the two ogival arches located to the north: interventions in the 1990s revealed the remains of these arches in the base of the south wall of the bell tower.
Set off from the arches of the porch is the travertine entrance portal to the church, which has a wide, low-slung arch, perhaps of Catalan inspiration, "outlined by slender bundled curbs interspersed with smooth areas." Other portals facing the porch are that of the bell tower, a round arch of modest architecture, that of the convent, another lowered arch of modest architecture made partially with restoration elements, and that of the Oratory of the Nobles: this sandstone portal, on the other hand, is a significant example of late Renaissance architecture. It is in fact presented with an architrave framed by pilasters of the Ionic order decorated with an ovolo motif, supporting a high entablature: the date of the portal's construction, legible on the ruined inscription in the center of the entablature, is 1592. …
Text from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Full article: «Chiesa di San Bernardino da Siena».
People
Events and people from Wikidata (CC0).
Photos
Getting there
AmanteaTrain, nearest
900 m as the crow flies
Chiesa di San Bernardino da SienaVia San Bernardino
Aeroporto Internazionale di Lamezia Terme29.2 km
Distances are as the crow flies, not walking or driving.
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Nearby
See on the mapMore abbeys and monasteries in Calabria
Frequently asked questions
Where is Chiesa di San Bernardino da Siena?
Chiesa di San Bernardino da Siena is in Amantea, in the province of Cosenza (Calabria), Italy. Address: Via San Bernardino. GPS coordinates: 39.13471, 16.07869.
What else is there to see near Chiesa di San Bernardino da Siena?
Nearby you’ll find: Amantea Caslte (400 m away), Palazzo delle Clarisse (800 m away), Palazzo Rivellino (3.3 km away).
Sources and licences
Text. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Data. Wikidata (CC0); opening hours and contacts OpenStreetMap (ODbL).
Photos. Wikimedia Commons, author and licence on every image.
Credits for the 8 photos
- SanBernardino porticoingresso — Gino il Pio, Public domain
- Convento di San Bernardino da Siena - Amantea - — Vittorio martire, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Convento di San Bernardino da Siena (1) — Vittorio martire, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Convento di San Bernardino da Siena 1 - Amantea - — Vittorio martire, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Convento di San Bernardino da Siena 2 - Amantea - — Vittorio martire, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Convento di San Bernardino da Siena 3 - Amantea - — Vittorio martire, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Amantea san Bernardino fc01 — Fczarnowski, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Arcate san bernardino — Myway71, CC BY-SA 4.0
Updated 28 October 2026. All sources and licences