Basilica of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino

The Basilica of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino (Basilica di San Nicola a Tolentino) is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica that is part of the Augustinian monastery in the hill-town of Tolentino, province of Macerata, Marche, central Italy. The church is a former cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tolentino, suppressed in 1586. Notably, it was the first minor basilica to be formally canonically created, by Pope Pius VI in the brief Supremus Ille in 1783. Prior to this, minor basilicas were created via immemorial custom. It contains architecture and art from the 14th through to the 17th centuries. The imposing marble facade of the church was constructed over the centuries, and was completed in the 17th century. Burials include that of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino. Cappellone of San Nicola The Cappellone di San Nicola is a Gothic chapel that opens to the cloister. The walls and ceiling are covered with early 14th-century Giottesque frescoes, attributed variously to the Master of Tolentino, the Master of the Magi of Fabriano, or Pietro da Rimini, depicting scenes from the Life of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, the Life of the Virgin, and the Life of Christ. The spandrels of the chapel depict the four Evangelists and four Doctors of the church. The altar has a 15th-century polychrome stone statue of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, attributed to Niccolò di Giovanni, atop a funerary monument. The saint's tomb lies in the crypt. The frescoes appear to have been completed within a few decades of the saint's death in 1305. Chapel of the Sante Braccia (Holy Arms) This chapel was erected for the veneration of the relics of the saint's arms. It is entered through a 17th-century portal, which enters what was once the sacristy and leads to the 15th-century chapel, reconstructed in 1670 to accommodate more pilgrims. In 1819, the walls were decorated with polychrome marble in scagliola by Stefano da Morrovalle. In 1850 the ceiling was decorated with stars by Emidio Pallotta. In 1662, the dome had been decorated with a stuccowork depicting Paradise by Marco Antonio Baraciola, an artist from Como. The lateral walls have two large canvases: The Fire in the Ducal P

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