FRANCESCO BASILI (BASILY). — Son of Andrea, born at Loreto in 1767, died at Rome in 1850, maestro of the Cappella Giulia at St Peter’s in the Vatican. He far surpassed the fame of his father, with some fifteen theatrical works, an oratorio, a cantata and numerous sacred compositions: Masses, motets, hymns, psalms, Magnificats, litanies, etc.
BASILIA
BASILIA — Cathedral of the new diocese at Solothurn, dedicated to the Holy Martyrs Orso and Vittorio, built by Gaetano Matteo and Paolo Ant. Pisoni (1762–73).
DE. — A hospital city founded by St Basil, bishop of Caesarea, not far from the walls of that city. Surrounded by a vast enclosure and suitably divided within according to the various ailments, it was especially set aside for the reception of poor lepers, driven from every quarter and forced to wander without fixed abode. Wounded men likewise found particular welcome there.
B., the first example of institutionalised hospital care in the Eastern Empire, is regarded as the grandest work of charitable assistance in ancient Christendom.