Page 13 - SAINT HADRIAN’S CHURCH

La Chiesa di Sant’Adriano

Maximilian, between the 3th and 4th centuries. Impressed
by the tortures suffered by the Christians, he converted
himself to their faith, which was also that of his wife.

Tradition has it that Hadrian has known martyrdom by the
amputation of both his arms and feet, as it can be seen in
the large painting on canvas above the main altar, and that
his life was taken away by beheading.

THE INNER SIDE OF THE CHURCH

The holy building is divided into three naves, separated by
two rows of columns and six pillars supporting the arches.
Between 1600 and 1700 the big architectural changes took
place primarily in the apse and in the altar area, the
building was extended and the Baroque dome was erected
together with the three Latin altars. The original apse
demolishing marked a radical break-up of Byzantine
architectural morphology and today that part is known as
the "eighteenth-century" one of the church.

The frontals of the altars, other preciousness of the church,
are made of chalky stucco and not of marble, as it may
seem, and are embellished with flower shapes, crickets and
butterflies.

The three Latin altars are surmounted by as many
paintings. The central one depicts St. Hadrian’s
martyrdom, the one on the left contains the images of the
Madonna and Child, St. Nilus and St. Vito with two dogs
next to him, on the right altar there is depicted Saint Basil
the Great.

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