Church of Saints Paulinus and Donato
The Church of Saints Paolino and Donato is the only example in the city of a church built in a completely Renaissance style.
Address: Via San Paolino, Lucca
phone: 0583 53576
accessibility: The church is accessible to people with mobility disabilities via a ramp. Available upon request.
opening hours: occasional
entrance: Free
Initially dedicated to San Giorgio, after the discovery of the bones of San Paolino in 1261 and the destruction of the nearby church of San Donato, the building was rebuilt in 1513 in keeping with the splendors of the time, based on a design by Baccio da Montelupo and dedicated to Saints Paolino and Donato.
The façade, very simple and linear in its details, features statues depicting the two saints on either side of the main door. The interior's uniqueness is due to the stone finishes and the barrel vault, but also to the fact that It has retained its original furnishings with paintings and sculptures.
San Paolino is the patron saint of the city of LuccaA mysterious figure whose history is not well known. He is celebrated on July 12th, the Days of San Paolino.
Inside the church, three paintings depict the city of Lucca surrounded by Roman, medieval, and Renaissance walls. The first is located to the right of the entrance, on the counterfacade wall. It is a painting by Amico Aspertini depicting Saint Paulinus carrying the city of Lucca surrounded by medieval walls. The corner towers and limestone curtain walls can be seen.
The second, depicting the city in medieval times, is a painting by Baldassarre di Biagio depicting the Coronation of the Virgin, housed in the left transept of the church. Beyond the drawbridge, you can glimpse the many towers that characterized the city at that time.
Finally, in the right transept, a last painting depicting the Miracle of Saint Paulinus in a scene taken from a bird's eye view from a bastion from which one can glimpse the San Donato gate and the brick facing.
Il 12 July of the 1664 During the celebrations for the Saint's feast, one of the cannons placed in the square of the San Donato bastion, which were supposed to fire blanks, fired a burst of machine gun fire at a group of devotees entering the city from the Porta San Donato, hitting many people who, thanks to the intervention of the Saint, were not injured.
The church of San Paolino was the parish church of the Puccini family.
In 1877, just over eighteen years old, Puccini introduced himself to his fellow citizens as a composer with the motet "Plaudite populi" dedicated to Saint Paolino; the favorable reviews of this work meant that it was performed again in 1878 for the same feast together with a Credo, also by Puccini; both pieces were then included in the first performance of the Mass for 4 Voices with Orchestra, on 12 July 1880, which marked the culmination of his studies at the "G. Pacini" Musical Institute in Lucca (now the Luigi Boccherini Musical Institute).
Saint Paulinus Paulinus is the patron saint of the city.
He was the first bishop sent there by Saint Peter, and he is credited with the Christianization of Lucca. His cult has spanned the centuries and is still celebrated today with a solemn civil and religious feast on July 12th.
Built at the beginning of the sixteenth century by the Government of the Republic, the titular church preserves many works depicting the evolution of the city walls, offering an interpretative key for the Recognizing the Walls itinerary.
The fifteenth-century panel showing the state of the medieval walls (n.1). From the same period is the polychrome wooden statue depicting Bishop Paolino in his best-known iconography with the city of Lucca in his hands. (n.2). This subject is also found on a canvas dated 1606 (n.3).
Further references to San Paolino with the celebration of the miracle he performed on 12 July 1664 recalled with the fresco in the apse of the church (n. 4), with the painting placed in the side chapel (n.5) and with the “cartella” placed on the facade of the church (n.6).
