HISTORY
The oldest record of the complex in Faenza is from an 1137 document in the Cathedral archive, which mentions Albert, prior of the Hospital church of San Sepolcro, in the suburb of the city of Faenza outside of the Porta Ponte, the modern suburb of Borgo Dubecco. The commendam arose at the site of a previous hospital institution, and even the dedication to San Sepolcro (the Holy Sepulcher) underlines its ties to the Crusades. In 1237, a document mentioned the hospital as the “Hospitalis Sepulchri Sanctae Mariae Magdalenae” confirming the later dedication to the Saint. A document preserved in the Azzurrini Collection in the Archivio di Stato of Faenza, dated 1301, records an earlier hospital belonging to the Hospital Order of San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, confirming the importance of the knightly order.

ART-HISTORICAL NOTES
Modern-day scholarship agrees that the present building is datable to the 13th century. Its original barrel vault was probably demolished at the end of the 14th century. The remains of the earlier vaults and windows exist above the nave. These older windows had basket arches, as well as the original window on the façade, the present one the result of a later subsitution. The porch on the façade was inserted in the 17th century. The original Romanesque porch was probably in front of the entrance, while today the façade is defined by two buttresses and a large brick cornice. The decoration was probably also articulated with stone, of which a few traces remain. The lovely portico covered by barrel vaults to the left of the building was built at the same time as the church, as indicated by a similar cornice and buttress. This portico was supported by four pointed arches, of which three are limestone, and a fourth in brick and stone. In the Middle Ages, the church probably functioned as a hospice for travelers, pilgrims and the poor in general.