San Francesco Borgia, Baroque church in Via Crociferi, Catania, Italy.
San Francesco Borgia is a baroque church on Via Crociferi in Catania, begun in 1698 to a design by the Jesuit architect Angelo Italia and completed by 1736. Its facade has a classical front with paired marble columns flanking the portal, a broken pediment above it, and five statues of Jesuit saints: the titular saint over the portal, Ignatius Loyola and Francis Xavier below, Aloysius Gonzaga and Stanislaus Kostka above. The interior is a Latin cross with a central nave and two aisles of chapels.
Following the 1693 Sicily earthquake, architect Angelo Italia designed this church, with construction completed between 1698 and 1736. The building stands as a testament to the city's reconstruction after that major natural disaster.
The church is named after Saint Francis Borgia, the Jesuit who donated the main altarpiece, a 1567 copy of the Madonna della Neve from Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. The wooden pulpit is carved from solid cherry wood by an unknown Catania artisan, with a curtain draping from the canopy. The church now serves as a cultural venue managed by the Regional Superintendence.
San Francesco Borgia stands at Via Crociferi 7, next to the former Jesuit college and a block south of San Giuliano. The church is deconsecrated and used for cultural activities by the Soprintendenza Regionale ai Beni Culturali; the adjoining college houses a regional library. Access is from the Crociferi side, where the facade faces the street.
The transept features specialized chapels with marble decorations depicting stories of Francis Xavier and Saint Ignatius. These artistic representations tell visitors detailed narratives from Jesuit history through their visual design.
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