Sant'Agnese, Catholic church in Montepulciano, Italy

Sant'Agnese is a single-nave church in Montepulciano, 38.20 m long, 11.15 m wide and 16 m high, covered by a barrel vault. Semi-pilasters frame the arches above the side altars and carry a double cornice that continues into the semicircular apse. The facade keeps its 14th-century portal, with plasterwork and ornaments added between 1916 and 1926.

A church was built from 1306 on land bought by the commune for 1200 florins, outside the walls near Porta al Prato, on the wish of the abbess Agnese. First dedicated to Santa Maria Novella, it passed to the Dominicans in 1439, who enlarged it and turned the facade south. Gregorio Monterchi rebuilt it at the end of the 17th century and it was reconsecrated in 1700.

The church takes its name from the abbess Agnese, who founded it in 1306; it was first dedicated to Santa Maria Novella. In the left chapel stands a 13th-century Rhenish wooden crucifix that tradition says Agnese venerated and through which she had visions. The chapel is now decorated as a memorial to the fallen of the First World War.

The church stands outside the old walls near Porta al Prato, on the site bought by the commune for 1200 florins; the facade now faces south onto the street. The former west-facing sandstone portal, walled up, was found in 1951 behind the side altar of Santa Rosa da Lima. The sacristy and the three rooms of Agnes's cell open at its far end.

The wooden cross in the left-hand chapel is a 13th-century German-Rhenish work that tradition says Agnese venerated and through which she had visions. The chapel is now decorated with a memorial to the dead of the First World War.