Sant’Eusebio church of Perti
From the medieval church with a romanic crypt to the 18th century parish.
The medieval church of Sant’Eusebio of Perti, with its romanic crypt (11th century), is one of the most important and fascinating religious buildings in Finale.
The church rises on the ridge between the Pora and Aquila valleys, in an area that was already the seat of a roman settlement and necropolis.
MORE INFORMATION – Sant’Eusebio church of Perti
From the medieval church of Sant’Eusebio of Perti only the 11th century romanic crypt remains and it is characterised by vaults that are supported by four central pillars. The walls of the crypt present the romanic architecture motifs that were in typical Liguria, with narrow single lancet splayed windows and the pilasters of the walls with engaged columns that support hanging arches.
The crypt was built on a rock step where traces of an intense frequentation already in the roman republican period (2nd-1st century B.C.) came to light. In a pilaster of the crypt a Finale stone arula was reused, that is a small roman votive altar dated between the 1st and 2nd century A.D. with what’s left of an inscription.
Within the crypt there is preserved a Finale stone roof shaped lid of a sarcophagus that is decorated with two crosses carved on the sides, dated to the 5th and 6th century. This sarcophagus is ascribable to the existence of a paleochristian church of which we have no trace.
In the mortar in the floor of the crypt two Byzantine bronze coins were discovered with the image of Christ represented as the “king of kings”, minted by Constantine and dated to the first quarter of the 11th century.
In the second half of the 15th century the superior part of the apse of the romanic church, over the crypt, was demolished and rebuilt in a polygonal form. The new apse was completed from the original bell tower and decorated with laggioni (glazed earthenware tiles, typical of Genoa) and with spanish majolica basins.
But the old medieval church in time wasn’t considered adequate anymore to host the population of Perti, who decided to build a new parish next to the previous one.
On the 14th of October 1714, following the project of the Finalese architect Francesco Bagutti, the first stone was set for this big church that has a central polygonal plan with a wide presbytery and painted stucco altars along the walls.
The building site continued for a long time and a lot of materials for the construction of the new church came from the ruins of Gavone castle, that in 1715 had been radically destroyed by the Genoese.
HOW TO REACH
SANT’EUSEBIO CHURCH OF PERTI
How to reach the site
The church can be reached on foot or by bike, leaving from Finalborgo and following the Berretta road or along the road for Perti Alta that breaks off in the locality of San Sebastiano on the road for Calice Ligure.
Bookings for tours are available as part of the “Open door Open art” Project endorsed by MUDIF.
Archeotrekking “I Del Carretto e il Rinascimento Finalese”
The visit is part of the project “Archeotrekking finale” promoted by Museo Archeologico del Finale and by Guide association “Finale Natura”.
Calendar of visits
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