Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Grazie (resti)

Of the church that Gemona once called its little picture gallery, only the facade, portal and monumental staircase survive. The remains of Santa Maria delle Grazie preserve a visible trace of the 1976 earthquake and the town's devotional history.

Why it matters

Gemona chose to keep this ruin. After 1976, when almost everything else in the old town was rebuilt where it stood, the fifteenth-century church of Santa Maria delle Grazie was left as it fell — its facade, portal and the long flight of steps that once climbed to it, framed by fragmentary perimeter walls. The church was so rich in paintings that locals knew it as the town's small picture gallery. That collection did not vanish: the paintings were rescued and moved to the civic museum, and the frescoes that could be detached now hang in the Affrescoteca nearby. The surviving facade, portal and staircase reflect a decision to preserve the ruin as a memorial.

What to notice

The scalinata rises toward the surviving portal and facade. Partial perimeter walls mark the former nave. Paintings rescued from the church, including Cima da Conegliano's signed 1496 Madonna col Bambino, are held in the civic museum at Palazzo Elti. Detached fresco cycles from the church and convent, including scenes from the Life of the Virgin, are displayed in the Affrescoteca beside Porta Udine.

Context and history

The church belonged to the Franciscan Observants, and the regional heritage record notes that its panel of the Madonna was painted for the friars' church around the time the building was completed at the close of the fifteenth century. Across the centuries the church accumulated altarpieces, frescoes and furnishings until it functioned, in effect, as a satellite gallery. The earthquakes of 1976 brought down the nave and roof; what could be saved went to the civic collections, and the wall paintings that survived intact were cut from the masonry and transferred. A wooden statue of Sant'Emidio, protector against earthquakes, is held in the nearby church of San Rocco, one of the town's votive chapels. The site was left standing, with facade, portal and staircase preserved as a memorial at the edge of the medieval core.