La presunta "chiesa biabsidata" nel monastero di San Venerio sull’isola del Tino (SP): Rilettura del monumento da recenti scavi archeologici

Cagnana, Aurora (2023) La presunta "chiesa biabsidata" nel monastero di San Venerio sull’isola del Tino (SP): Rilettura del monumento da recenti scavi archeologici. Fenestella. Inside Medieval Art, 4. pp. 5-17. ISSN 2784-8663

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Abstract

[EN] The origin of medieval churches with two apses has long been a matter of investigation. Upon the rocky isle of Tino, emerging from the gulf of Spezia, once a monastery under the title of San Venerio did stand. Today, its area preserves ruins believed to belong to a double-apse church. Previous studies had possibly detected a single-hall church, dating back to the sixth or seventh century, to which a second nave should have been added during the ninth century. In consideration of such early dates, it was claimed that the monument was the prototype of double-apse churches across the old diocese of Luni. New excavations carried out in 2021 and 2022 by the Archaeological Superintendence of Genoa and La Spezia have led to a significant revision of the Tino’s complex. First, the architectural plan does not provide evidence of any double-apse church. Furthermore, the masonry suggests the first half of the eleventh century. Remarkably enough, in that period, some descendants of the Marquis Obertus invited a monastic community to settle on the renewed island. Therefore, the structure in question may have been a commemorative chapel (memoria), erected by the Benedictines to mark the supposed place of hermitage and death of Venerius: a respected Saint whose cult the monks wanted to be revived in the interest of themselves and their supporters. / [FR] The origin of medieval two-apses churches has been the subject of study for some time. On the island of Tino, in the gulf of La Spezia, there are the remains of the benedictine monastery dedicated to San Venerio. Inside there are traces of a monumental building, long interpreted as a two-apses church. In the history of research it was believed that the first single-apse hall dated back to the 6th – 7th centuries, while the second would have been added in the 9th century. In consideration of the very high dating, it was believed that the monument was the prototype of the two-apse churches of the diocese of Luni. Excavations conducted in 2021 and 2022 by the Archaeology, Art and Landscape Superintendence of Genoa and La Spezia led to a re-reading of the wall remains. It has been ascertained that the plan, very irregular also due to geological instability, does not correspond to that of a two-apses church. Furthermore, the early medieval chronology does not agree with the characteristics of the masonry techniques which rather orient towards the first half of the 11th century. The imposing ruins of the building should rather be interpreted as a memoria, built at the time of the Benedictine settlement, to signal the place of prayer and death of San Venerio. Founded with the support of the Obertenghi marquises, the monastery rediscovered and relaunched, in that same period, the cult of the hermit and confessor

Tipologia del documento:	Articolo in rivista
Parole chiave:	Early Medieval Monastries; Island of Tino; Early Medieval Archaeology; Early Medieval Churches; Monastero altomedievale; Isola di Tino; Archeologia medievale; Chiese altomedievali; Benedictine Monasteries; San Venerio; Obertenghi Marquises; Double-apse church; Chiese biabsidate; Monastero benedettino; Obertenghi
Soggetto:	D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D111 Medieval History N Fine Arts > NX Arts in general
Depositato il:	21 Ago 2026 21:39
Ultima modifica:	22 Ago 2026 14:26
URI:	https://www.rmoa.unina.it/id/eprint/7926

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