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Meteo L'Osservatore Romano Città del Vaticano 
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St. Bartholomew of the Armenians
The original style was typically Armenian, probably a central design with a dome and two side Chapels in the front. Of this structure only the apse is left, with the dome (into which, in recent times, an opening has been made), and the Chapel on the left. The Chapel on the right dedicated to St. Panthaleus was destroyed in 1883, when they built the building which now closes the Church both sides: that is, along the façade and on the right side. In the last years of the XVIth century it was remarkably transformed, so that now it is composed by an apse - as we said - nearly original, and by only one wide nave, much higher than the primitive Church.
Most of the paintings which decorate the walls of the nave (XVIIth century) are also referred to the Holy Relic: three canvas by Orazio De Ferrari (on the origin of the Holy Face); a canvas by A. Casoni (representing the donation of the relic to Montaldo); four canvas by Gregorio De Ferrari (angels with cartouches hymning to the Holy Face). The Church is also rich in other artistic works of great importance: in the vault the fresco (1594) by Lazzaro Tavarone (representing the martyrdom of St. Bartholomew), on the first altar on the right the Annunciation by G.B. Paggi (end of XVIth century). In the door opening above mentioned: Crucifix by D. Bissone. On the second altar on the right: ancona (altar-piece) by Mattia Traverso (XXth century) representing St. Anthony M. Zaccaria (the founder of the Order of the Barnabites) and Madonna of the Divine Providence. The altar is also endowed with a precious marble antependium (by Taddeo Carlone: beginning of XVIIth century) representing the translation of the body of St. Catherine from Alexandria to Mount Sinai. At the bottom of the right nave of the apse: a marble statue of the Madonna of Mercy (XVIIIth century) transferred from the Church of St. Paul in Campetto (formerly of the Barnabites). In the Choir: wooden Crucifix (XVIIth century). On the high altar (built in the XVIth or XVIIth century like the others of the nave) which is among the best of the time in Genoa, you can admire the Triptych by Turino Vanni, a Pisan (1415), representing the Madonna among Angels and Saints in one of the most beautiful examples of this kind of painting in Liguria. In the predella: scenes of the life and of the martyrdom of St. Bartholomew. In the plinths of the painting: St. George, the patron of Genoa and St. Torpete, the patron of Pisa. On the small doors which from the presbytery lead to the Choir: statues of St. Peter and St. Bartholomew (by the Carlone brothers XVIth and XVIIth centuries). On the walls at the sides of the presbyterium: two splendid paintings by Luca Cambiaso (now being restored - 1999) representing the Transfiguration and the Resurrection of Jesus. At the end of the left nave: the altar dedicated to the Madonna of the Holy Rosary (XIXth century). From here we reach the Old Chapel (now a passage to the sacristy) on the left front of the church, which keeps the remains of a cycle of frescos of the end of XVth century or the beginning of XVIth century, representing scenes of Jesus's passion and Prophets, Evangelists, Doctors. It is among the most significant examples of painting of this time in Genoa. In the Sacristy: a painting by Morazzone (P. F. Mazzucchelli, XVIIth century) representing the Madonna and St. Charles. Here the precious Relic of St. Bartholomew's Foot (which was given to the Church by Marco Spinola in 1430) is kept. On the second altar on the left of the nave: an altar piece by Mattia Traverso, representing the Sacred Heart and St. Paul Ap., the Patron of the Barnabites (whose real name is: Regular Clerics of St. Paul). The above mentioned Chapel of the Holy Face follows. On the first altar on the left there is an ancona of the Madonna of the Guard (XXth century) and St. Joseph (XIXth century).
In the Hall of the Church there is a bust of St. Basil, Patron of the Armenian Monks, also called Basilian. Below the bust there is an exhibition of medieval tombstones (one dating back to the XVIIth century, of armenian origin) relating to the Holy Face. On the opposite wall there is a bust of St. Alexander Sauli, Patron of the Sauli Circle, among the most active Catholic Circles of the end of the XIXth century and the beginning of the XXth century. On the wall near the entrance of the Church there is a bronze bust of Father John Semeria, Barnabite (by Guido Galletti: 1969) who was a famous writer, an orator and a man of great charity, and the founder of institutes for the orphans of the First World War, when he had been a Chaplain.
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The Church of St. Bartholomew of the Armenians is so called because it was founded, in 1308, by Armenian monks coming from the Black Mountain, in southern Armenia, which had been invaded by the Turks.
In the left part of the nave there is the Chapel of the Holy Face, which was erected at the end of the XVIth century and transformed recently, with overhanging Loggia from which the Holy Relic was once shown. Behind the Loggia there is the marble Tabernacle where the Holy Face was kept. On the opposite side, in front of the Chapel, there is still the door opening which was a passage to the church (before the building was built): that is a proof of the importance of the Holy Face in the structure of the Church.
In the corridor of the palace adjacent to the Church - where there was St. Panthaleo's Chapel there is a painting representing St. Catherine of Alexandria (formerly in the Church), by G.M. Viani (XVIIth century). In the same corridor are four paintings representing episodes relating to the Holy Face which were formerly in the Church Choir, of the XVIIth century, by Domenico Fiasella, Elisabetta Sirani, G. Benso. In a small room next to the corridor there is a painting representing St. Alexander Sauli, a Barbabite Bishop (formerly in the Church) by G.A. Boni (XVIIIth century).
At last, on the ceiling of the hall there is a painting by G.B. Paggi, representing Jesus who is giving His portrait to the Ambassador of king Abgar (formerly a part of the altar piece of the Chapel of the Holy Face). This is the picture which, by introducing to the vision and contemplation of the Holy Face, offers the believer and the pilgrim the "seal" of his visit to the Holy Relic of Christ's Face, a Face which has been venerated since the first Christian generations, a Face that can and must represent one of the most eloquent historical reasons to find again, at the beginning of the third millennium of the Christian Age, the unity of the origins.
