Basilica of Santa Cristina, Bolsena

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The Basilica of Santa Cristina is a Catholic basilica church in Bolsena, province of Viterbo, region of Lazio, Italy. The church is best known for being the site of a Eucharistic Miracle in 1263, immortalized by The Mass at Bolsena by Raphael in the Vatican palace. It also was the burial site for the martyr and saint Christina of Bolsena.

Renaissance façade
The Tomb of St Cristina with Buglioni sculpture in the center the statue illustrates the stone used in the attempt to drown her.
Entrance portal lunette by Buglioni
Altar of the Miracle inside Grotto of Santa Cristina

The church was consecrated by Pope Gregory VII in 1077. The façade was commissioned by Pope Leo X, and completed in 1492 to 1494 with designs by Francesco and Benedetto Buglioni. The two portals have polychrome lunettes by the Florentine artists, in the style of Della Robbia. To the left of the façade is the late-baroque external entrance to the Chapel of the Miracle. The tall 13th-century belltower has Romanesque mullioned windows.

Interior

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