The Church of Saint Nicholas of Bari in Lanciano, located in the Sacca district along Via Garibaldi, was built in the 13th century on the ruins of the ancient Church of San Pellegrino, destroyed by fire in 1226. Completed by tradition in either 1242 or 1292, it is one of the oldest churches in the neighborhood. It became a parish church in 1319 and was originally built in the Italian Gothic style. Over the centuries, it underwent Baroque and Neoclassical renovations, notably a major 19th-century intervention by architect Filippo Sargiacomo that obscured many original frescoes.
The church has a rectangular floor plan with three naves and an elegant facade featuring Gothic and Neoclassical elements, including an ogival portal crowned with a statue of Saint Nicholas. Inside, it preserves a wooden baptismal font, several altars, and stained glass windows by artist Michele Cianfrone. A remarkable 14th-century fresco cycle of the Legend of the True Cross, inspired by Jacobus de Voragine’s Legenda Aurea, was discovered in the 1990s in a crypt under the bell tower. These frescoes include biblical and legendary scenes with expressive and didactic value.
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Via Giuseppe Garibaldi, Lanciano, Italy - Web
None - Visiting Hours
Unknown - What to see
Frescoes of the True Cross
