Sant'Anna, church building in Pisa, Italy
Sant'Anna is a church and former Benedictine convent on Via Carducci in Pisa, rebuilt entirely in 1741-47 by the Pisan brothers Giuseppe and Francesco Melani. The church has a single hall, with 18th-century paintings by Tommaso Tommasi, Giuseppe Grisoni and Antonio Luchi. The complex, which since 1668 also incorporates the church and convent of San Girolamo dei Gesuati, has housed the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna since 1975.
Benedictine nuns began construction of this complex in 1406 and consecrated the church in 1426. Over the centuries it underwent several renovations, notably in the 1740s by the Melani brothers, and after the convent closed in 1786, the building was adapted for use as a school.
The name Sant'Anna comes from the Conservatorio di Sant'Anna, whose title the Scuola Superiore kept when the two merged in 1987. Each year the church hosts the traditional Mass for the school's new Allievi, held there in 2017, 2019 and 2022. Concerts promoted annually by the school let the public hear the 1850 Agati organ.
The complex stands on Via Carducci, a short walk from the church of San Giuseppe, whose pastel stucco facade resembles Sant'Anna's own. The church is a single hall entered from the main door, with the 1850 Agati organ in the cantoria above it. The Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, housed in the adjoining convent, opens the church for concerts held there each year.
The organ in the cantoria above the main entrance was built in 1850 by Nicomede Agati, of the Pistoia organ-building family, and was recently restored by organ maker Nicola Puccini. The Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, housed in the adjoining complex, promotes concerts that let the public hear it. In the cloister, once that of San Girolamo, are graffiti and frescoes showing the life of the blessed Filippo Gambacorti, from the 16th-17th centuries.
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