Sant’Agostino Conference and Event Centre
The Sant’Agostino complex, consisting of the church and adjoining convent, is considered one of the oldest in the city of Cortona.
The Conference Centre is housed in the former convent of Sant’Agostino, an annex to the church of the same name. It has seven potential meeting rooms, each equipped with the latest technology. Indoor and outdoor event spaces are also available, ideal for exhibitions and cultural or technological events.
The Conference and Event Centre, which can be visited upon request during office opening hours, is also the base of the administrative and management offices of Cortona Sviluppo S.r.l. It is advisable to book any visit by telephone/email in advance to ensure that the outside cloisters or exhibition spaces are not already in use and as such not accessible to the public. Of particular historical and artistic interest is the ancient cloister, built around the middle of the 13th century and decorated with 29 frescoes, recently restored, depicting episodes from the life of Sant’Agostino.
Cortona in the Middle Ages and the Augustinian Order
The 13th century saw the almost simultaneous emergence of some of the most important religious orders: those of the Franciscans, Dominicans, Servants of Mary and Augustinians. These orders also appeared early in Cortona, where during the 13th century they founded two urban convents (Franciscan and Augustinian) and two suburban convents (Servants of Mary and Dominicans) in the villages of Santa Maria and San Domenico. Approved by Pope Alexander IV in 1255 (but already unified as an Order in Tuscany in 1243), the new Augustinian Order was counted amongst the mendicant orders and rapidly spread throughout Italy and Europe. It is traditionally thought that the original foundation and construction of the church and convent of Sant’Agostino happened in Cortona between 1256 and 1275, by the Augustinians of the Hermitage of Sant’Onofrio alla Croce, who built a Gothic-style structure much smaller than the present complex. Without doubt, for the free Commune of Cortona, the 13th century was an era of intense religious, artistic and cultural development, and the religious orders – including the Augustinians – also contributed to this, bringing with them new ideas, culture and the movement of people.
Church and Convent of St Augustine
The St. Augustine complex, consisting of the church and adjoining convent, is considered one of the oldest in the city. Although the exact date of its foundation remains approximate, it is already mentioned in some 13th century extracts. The original Gothic church, traditionally dated to 1273, was much smaller than the present one. An initial reconstruction was carried out in 1481 and traces of it remain in the cusped entrance portal incorporated into the present façade. The renovation is probably linked to the Zefferini family, as is the construction of the new chapel where the body of Blessed Ugolino Zefferini was laid to rest. A second, and more substantial building intervention dates back to 1681, when the church and convent were enlarged and redesigned into the present form, and the eight side altars were added to the church. The pre-existing part and later extensions can be clearly distinguished on the façade, where the original gabled layout, divided horizontally by two string-course cornices, is supported by the unclad 17th century extension. At the current door, traces of the Gothic portal are visible, though these have been closed off and replaced by new openings.
Whilst the interior of the church retains the original hall structure, 1681 saw the addition of Baroque altars, four on each side, along with three apsal chapels. The chapel on the left originally housed Berrettini’s painting of The Madonna Enthroned, which also depicts the saints James the Greater, John the Baptist, Stephen and Francis, and which is now kept at the MAEC- the Museum of the Etruscan Academy of the City of Cortona. The body of Blessed Ugolino Zefferini, himself an Augustinian from Cortona, whose remains have since been transferred to the church of San Filippo (also in Cortona), was also kept and venerated in Sant’Agostino. The church itself can only be visited during events and exhibitions. Next to the church are the premises of the former Augustinian convent, now used as the conference centre. It is typically configured in the manner of the convents of the Order of Preachers, centralised around the cloister, which, thanks to a sympathetic and careful restoration carried out in the 1980s, was only partially altered. It is flanked by the church, directly accessible from the public street.
In the 13th century, the vaulted lower floor of the convent was used for service rooms and community halls, while the upper floor, constructed using trusses, was dedicated to the monks’ living quarters. During the 14th and 15th centuries, with the renovation of pre-existing buildings and the landscaping of the surrounding area, the monastery took on an aspect somewhat similar to the present day, with the two main bodies of the building running parallel to each other, connected on the opposite edge to the church by a smaller body of the building. During the Renaissance period, the internal portico was constructed, using two architectural ‘orders’, one floor on top of the other, with the lower one archivolted and the upper one architraved. To complete and embellish the lower order, the lunettes were frescoed with episodes from the life of Sant’Agostino. The upper order was built according to the original design on two sides only and was remodelled in the first half of the 20th century. After the establishment of the Kingdom of Italy, many of the rooms expropriated from the religious orders were used for school buildings. Having passed to the Scolopi (The Piarists), the Cortona convent of Sant’Agostino was also adapted as a school, indeed the closing off of the lower order of the cloister probably dates back to this period. The cloister is currently open to the public.
The frescoed lunettes (arched frescoes) of the Cloister
“…according to the [religious] Fathers, for both Religious [people] and Secular [people], the greater the embellishment of the painting of the lunettes in the cloisters of our convent, the greater the devotion “. Thus in 1669, the painter Giuseppe Guasparini of Umbertide (Fratta di Perugia) was commissioned to execute a cycle of frescoes that, proceeding from right to left, depicted moments and stories from the life of Sant’Agostino. There is scant information about the painter, although the date of the commissioning of the work is exact, recorded as 17th August 1669 on Map 8 r. of the Proposals, and which accurately coincides with the major renovation of the complex in 1681. There are twenty-eight frescoes in the lunettes, which are placed in correspondence with the various rooms on the ground floor and the staircase leading to the upper floors, i.e. seven on each side. These are preceded by a further fresco, painted above the entrance arch to the corridor itself, just inside the large portal on Via Guelfa. In this lunette is the image of the Saint protecting everyone under his mantle with the caption, ACCIPE NUNC QUALE QUANTEQUE COHORTES IN TERRIS DIVINA PATRIS VEXILLA SEQUANTUR / INTRATE SPECTATORES, EXITE IMITATORES. The other lunettes portray stories and significant episodes in the life of Sant’Agostino with a narration that starts from the left and develops along the four sides. In some of the frescoes it is still possible to read the original captions and recognise the Coats of Arms of the Cortona families that may have contributed to the work.
Meeting Rooms
The Sant’Agostino Conference Centre has several types of meeting/events room equipped with the latest and most innovative technology and can offer both indoor and outdoor event spaces.
Contact
An efficient conference organisation for the planning and coordination of congresses, conventions, meetings and cultural events.
- Est Side
- IN WHICH THE GREAT AUGUSTINE CONVERTS IN AN 32
Coat of Arms with Marian monogram - IN WHICH HE IS BAPTISED
Coat of Arms Mazzini - IN WHICH HE WEARS THE CASSOCK
Coat of Arms Bruni - IN WHICH HE ESCAPES THE WORLD
Coat of Arms Quintani - STUDY OF THE TRINITY
Coat of Arms – lost - Lost caption
Coat of Arms – Nassi - DEATH OF (sic) HIS MOTHER
Coat of Arms – Vagnotti
Coat of Arms with Marian monogram
Coat of Arms Mazzini
Coat of Arms Bruni
Coat of Arms Quintani
Coat of Arms – lost
Coat of Arms – Nassi
Coat of Arms – Vagnotti
- South Side
- IN WHICH HE CURES GANGRENE
Coat of Arms – Tommasi - IN WHICH HE WASHES THE LORD’S FEET
Coat of Arms – Mattioli - IN WHICH HE IS MADE A PRIEST AGED 37
Coat of Arms – Baldelli - IN WHICH HE PRESCRIBES A RULE
Bourbon Coat of Arms of Petrella (?) - IN WHICH HE BUILDS A CONVENT
Coat of Arms – Santucci (?) - EXPLAINS THE SYMBOL OF FAITH
Coat of Arms – Pancrazi (?) - Lost caption and Coat of Arms
Coat of Arms – Tommasi
Coat of Arms – Mattioli
Coat of Arms – Baldelli
Bourbon Coat of Arms of Petrella (?)
Coat of Arms – Santucci (?)
Coat of Arms – Pancrazi (?)
- West Side
- […]HERESIES OF AFRICA
Lost caption and Coat of Arms - Lost caption and Coat of Arms
- Lost caption and Coat of Arms
- Lost caption and Coat of Arms.
The fresco depicts the celebration of Mass with a group of nuns - Lost caption and Coat of Arms.
The fresco depicts St. Augustine on one knee before the Virgin and Child - IIN WHICH HE HEALS THE SICK
Coat of Arms without name - DIES IN IPPONA in AN 76
Coat of Arms – Sernini
Lost caption and Coat of Arms
The fresco depicts the celebration of Mass with a group of nuns
The fresco depicts St. Augustine on one knee before the Virgin and Child
Coat of Arms without name
Coat of Arms – Sernini
- North Side
- Lost caption.
The fresco depicts the proceedings of a funeral
Coat of Arms – Tommasi - MIRACLES OF THE SAINT
Coat of Arms – Bandinucci - IN WHICH HE IS TRANSPORTED TO PAVIA
Coat of Arms – Velluti - [the] PRODIGIES CONTINUE
Coat of Arms – Cattani - VICTORY ACHIEVED
Fragmentary Coat of Arms CANT - WAX THAT DOES NOT WEAR OFF
Coat of Arms Illegible - IN WHICH HE FREES PAVIA FROM THE PLAGUE
Lost Coat of Arms
The fresco depicts the proceedings of a funeral
Coat of Arms – Tommasi
Coat of Arms – Bandinucci
Coat of Arms – Velluti
Coat of Arms – Cattani
Fragmentary Coat of Arms CANT
Coat of Arms Illegible
Lost Coat of Arms