CHURCH OF SAN DONATO IN POLVEROSA
SHORT HISTORICAL EXCURSUS
It was the autumn of 1187 when Jerusalem and the Holy Sepulcher were reconquered by the Muslims. The West, through the main kings, reacted to this loss and the great powers were preparing to organize the third crusade, under the pontificate of Pope Clement III. The legate of the Supreme Pontiff for sending the crusade was the bishop of Ravenna, Gerardo; San Donato alla Torre was chosen as the starting point for the Florentine crusaders. On the occasion, on February 2, 1188, the church was solemnly consecrated by Bishop Gerardo. The third crusade did not succeed in its objectives.
This is perhaps one of the most important historical moments of the Church of San Donato in Polverosa (formerly called San Donato alla Torre); the testimony is the patronal feast of the church, celebrated every year on February 2, the day of its consecration. The origin of the church dates back to just before the year 1000 when, according to an ancient legend, a pagan princess arrived in these places; she converted, she bought the land, had it cleared and built a house with a church and a tower. On her death, as left in her will, a monastery was built from her house to which all her possessions went.
Initially, the monastery belonged to the Augustinian Canons of Portuensi, called "Dusty" for the color of the
their habit. Around 1239, the monastery was granted by the bishop of Florence to the Umiliati Friars; after almost twenty years it passed to the Augustinian Nuns of Santa Cristina, who subsequently chose to become Cistercians. In 1322 the monastery of Santa Maria Maddalena delle Convertite, located in Borgo Pinti, was sold to the Cistercians of San Donato; the “Convertite” nuns immediately left the monastery of Borgo Pinti and went to San Donato. Relations between the two monasteries will always be intense. In 1628 the monastery of Borgo Pinti was instead occupied by the Carmelite nuns, changing its name to Santa Maria Maddalena de 'Pazzi (monastery occupied today by the community of the Augustinians of the Assumption). The nuns remained in San Donato until 1809, that is, at the time of the suppression of the Religious Institutes by the French; left abandoned by the new owners, the monastery was bought by Prince Nicola Demidoff, who built his residence there, a large neoclassical villa.
In the 1960s, through gifts and purchases, the church, the bell tower and other small spaces became the property of the new San Donato in Polverosa parish. Don Franco Bencini, the new parish priest (from 1963 to 2003) devoted himself a lot to the construction, material and spiritual, of the new parish. His work was faithfully carried out, from 2003 to 2009, by Don Wieslaw Olfier.
In November 2009, the parish was entrusted by the Bishop of Florence, Mons. Giuseppe Betori, to the Augustinian community of the Assumption, appointing Father Giuliano Riccadonna as parish priest and Father Lucian Dinca as vice parish priest.
Today the parish priest and vice-parish priest are Father Giuliano Riccadonna and Father Joseph Tsongo.
update july 2024