{"id":6608,"date":"2026-05-19T11:47:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T09:47:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/visitsandaniele.it\/sd-luogo\/church-of-san-giacomo\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T12:12:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T10:12:13","slug":"church-of-san-giacomo","status":"publish","type":"sd-luogo","link":"https:\/\/visitsandaniele.it\/en\/sd-luogo\/church-of-san-giacomo\/","title":{"rendered":"CHURCH OF SAN GIACOMO"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Church of San Giacomo, located in the hamlet of Villanova, sits on a hill about a kilometer from the town center. From there, it dominates the landscape, offering a breathtaking view of the Tagliamento River. Today, the church appears solitary and silent, but in the past, the surrounding context was profoundly different.
\nThe building’s origins date back to the early decades of the 12th century, making it likely the oldest of a homogeneous group of rural churches in the area, built entirely of stone ashlars. Comparative studies conducted by the University of Udine have linked the Church of San Giacomo to other sacred buildings in the area, such as San Martino a Rive d’Arcano, Sant’Andrea sul Picaron, and Santa Maria Assunta, attributing them to the same historical period based on the construction technique and materials used.
\nFrom its origins, the church was dedicated to the Holy Apostles Philip and James. According to some scholars, its construction may be linked to the Confraternity of San Giacomo, active in the Middle Ages in assisting wayfarers and maintaining roads, bridges, and shelters along the routes through the area. The architectural typology, which has remained essentially unchanged over the centuries, is that of a simple rectangular hall with a free-standing semicircular apse.
\nThe first certain documentary mention of the church dates back to April 14, 1350, when, in the will of Pellegrina, widow of Ser Valtero Poppo di San Daniele, a quantity of oil for lighting is left as a gift to the church of San Giacomo. The same document also mentions the churches of Santa Maria di Villanova and San Bartolomeo ad Aonedis. In 1412, in the church of Santi Filippo e Giacomo, Guarnerio quondam Martino d’Albazzana dictated his will in the presence of numerous witnesses from the village, confirming the building’s central role in community life.
\nDuring the 15th century, the church was the destination of a special annual procession organized by the Parish of San Daniele on May 1st. Sources also mention donations and bequests, such as that in 1437 from Nicol\u00f2, son of Giacomo Comanini, who arranged for the perpetual distribution of a bucket of wine to participants in the procession. In 1492, the church’s chamberlains purchased a plot of land, a sign of the presence of assets and independent management.
\nAfter the damage suffered in the 1976 earthquake, the church underwent major restoration work: the upper walls were consolidated and the roof was redone. The removal of layers of plaster accumulated over the centuries revealed the original stonework, made of horizontally arranged ashlars, and the elegant medieval single-lancet windows that once illuminated the interior. Unfortunately, these restorations lost some traces of exterior frescoes.
\nThe simple and intimate interior preserves a small wooden altar and an 18th-century wooden crucifix. On the left wall is a devotional fresco from 1860 depicting the Virgin with Saints Rocco and Giacomo, moved in 1985 from the exterior fa\u00e7ade of a house on Via Zara. In 1996, a sculpture of Saint Giacomo, by Franco Maschio, was installed, while in 2016, the wall above the altar was decorated with a painting of the Madonna and Child with Saints Ermacora, Fortunato, Lorenzo, and Floriano, by Paolo Orlando.
\nHISTORICAL NOTES
\nIn the Middle Ages, an important river port on the Tagliamento River stood near the church, crucial for transporting timber from the Carnic mountains. The riverbed, up to three kilometers wide between Villanova and Spilimbergo, was and still is characterized by constant change: waterways, gravel and sand banks, and ever-changing vegetation made crossing extremely complex. The routes changed after each flood, and orientation was difficult, making the assistance of expert guides indispensable.
\nIn this context, specialized workers operated in the transport of goods: cart drivers, pack animals, and shoulder carriers. The church of San Giacomo represented an essential reference point for them, a place of protection and rest before facing the perils of the river. The village of Albazzana arose a short distance away, becoming the permanent home of these working communities. Until the last century, Albazzana was considered an independent center from Villanova, and the church was its religious hub. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","tipo_luogo_sd":[362],"zona_sd":[269],"class_list":["post-6608","sd-luogo","type-sd-luogo","status-publish","hentry","tipo_luogo_sd-monuments","zona_sd-outsidecity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/visitsandaniele.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sd-luogo\/6608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/visitsandaniele.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sd-luogo"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/visitsandaniele.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/sd-luogo"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/visitsandaniele.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"tipo_luogo_sd","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visitsandaniele.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tipo_luogo_sd?post=6608"},{"taxonomy":"zona_sd","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visitsandaniele.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/zona_sd?post=6608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}