Chiostro di Sant'Antonino

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Chiostro (Cloister)
Basilica di Sant'Antonino (Basilica of St. Antoninus)
Piazza Sant'Antonino
Piacenza, May 2024

“The beautiful Cloister of our basilica opens on the right side of the church. It was built in 1483 in Renaissance style in place of an older medieval cloister, but the current layout is due to the intervention of the architect Giulio Ulisse Arata in the 1930s. In particular, the side of the cloister towards the basilica was rebuilt following the model of the other two ancient sides, after the demolition of the baroque chapels that existed at the time. It has three porticoed sides with cross vaults and a series of capitals above the columns, all different from each other. They have the shape of an inverted bell: some are decorated with acanthus leaves; others have simple lanceolate leaves with smooth edges; still others are adorned with festoons. On the garden side, many capitals feature the coat of arms of the martyr Antonino or the dice emblem of Piacenza. The fourth side to the south was demolished to create a passage between the square and the church of S. Vincenzo. In its place there is a simple wall with a door that allows the connection with the outside. The central space, almost square, is green with an octagonal well in the center.” (The cloister, Basilica of St. Antonino)