Visit Foligno

Church of San Paolo

Symbol of the rebirth of the territory after the '97 earthquake, the new sacred monument inaugurated in via del Roccolo in Foligno in spring 2009 and commissioned by the Italian Episcopal Conference bears the signature of the architect Massimiliano Fuksas.

The Church of San Paolo does not leave the visitor indifferent for the particularity of its architecture, for the modern connotations of its style, for its innovativeness.

The structure is born from the combination of two parallelepipeds that join together to form a single cube . The two volumes are one inside the other. An external parallelepiped 22.50 meters wide, 30 meters long and 26 meters high, made of exposed reinforced concrete and an internal one, suspended 3 meters from the ground and from the walls of the external volume, the latter made of steel and light concrete. For the complementary functions, a third parallelepiped was created next to the central body of the church.

The light enters from above to illuminate the entire space and in the center, where the altar is positioned, through three horizontal, rectangular windows. Light is the protagonist and active interpreter of the movement, as well as an obvious universal symbol of sacredness.

The church is accessed by going along a sloping ramp and churchyard, one and a half meters from the road surface and crossing not a portal but a glass window, which horizontally cuts the entire building. For the realization of the work, the architect was inspired by the vertical conception of the church, in line with the liturgical celebration of the mass and the intent was to redefine the concept of the link between heaven and earth through the upward momentum. .

Foligno Cathedral

The 12th century Romanesque Cathedral of Foligno is the greatest artistic monument in the city; it shows on the main facade multiple arches and a small loggia flanked by mullioned windows, while on the side of the largest square we find a great wealth of decorative elements and evangelical symbols.
Inside the ancient Roman church only the crypt remains while the three naves, after having undergone considerable changes already in the 15th and 16th centuries, took on their current appearance following the project by Vanvitelli and the intervention of Giuseppe Piermarini; among the most significant works in the Cathedral, the sixteenth-century chapel of the Sacrament by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger should be highlighted.