Lighting for churches and places of worship

How to illuminate

Xlite is a company specialized in the tailor-made design and lighting of any type of environment, including those with architectural constraints such as ancient structures. An example above all is represented by Churches, where the possibility of installation intervention is minimal, precisely to avoid damaging the original structures beyond what is necessary.

The creation of a good lighting system inside a church must satisfy the aesthetic and functional aspects: highlighting the artistic heritage contained therein and guarantee the correct light for carrying out liturgies, ceremonies, moments of prayer, sacred representations and all other functions. Therefore it is clear how UNIQUE each project is.

You need to know how to illuminate, leaving the right contrast between light and dark, creating a rhythmic rhythm that pushes the visitor to discover the building.

We work alongside architects, Curias and installers for relamping with LED technology, guaranteeing notable energy efficiency that leads to economic savings in a short time. In fact, the efficiency of LED lamps helps to significantly reduce electricity consumption and almost completely eliminates the need for maintenance interventions.

The advanced integrable systems allow you to adapt the lighting according to needs by increasing the light in the case of solemn functions and making it soft for classic liturgical functions . Just like what happens in a museum, the choice of luminaires with high color rendering sources (CRI >90) allows you to highlight the works, be they paintings, frescoes or mosaics.

The example of San Francesco del Prato

Hidden in the heart of the city of Parma, a stone’s throw from the Cathedral and the Baptistery, stands the Gothic church of San Francesco del Prato, used for over 200 years as a penitentiary and today completely restored and open to visitors on the occasion of the numerous initiatives of PARMA – Italian Capital of Culture 2021. XLITE was chosen to carry out the relamping of the Church of San Francesco del Prato, the client and the Arch. Della Longa, following the long and meticulous restoration, wanted to give a strong evocative charge to the lighting project too. Our challenge was to integrate modern LED technology and the most advanced optical solutions to the architectural needs required by the project.





In the proposed concept, the dark and cold environments of the prisons should have been filled with impalpable light coming from an apparently invisible light source, discreet and integrated into the dimensional and geometric logic of the entire building. Thanks to a direct comparison and close collaboration between the designer and XLITE it was possible to create the lighting body designed by the architect, obtaining an identical result to that studied in the rendering phase.

Around an aluminum body with high dissipative capacity, specifically designed to keep the weight low but with high mechanical resistance, there is a finely calendered brass casing, to create a cross motif guaranteeing excellent light diffusion, without glare and visual disturbances. To illuminate the various areas of the church it was necessary to use specially designed optics with emission angles varying from 8° to 115°, completely adjustable and in some cases made of special silicone materials in order to protect the LED electronics and the visual comfort of the user .

The lighting of the apse area occurs via a corona pharalis, equipped with LED sources with optics specifically designed for this use. Its central position allows excellent lighting of the alab altar star placed below and the finely frescoed vault that dominates above it.

Metallic and reflective, the crown dematerializes, reproducing shapes and warm colors present in the environment. To adapt to this changing nature of the building, the light was made alive, through the DALI management of the lighting it was in fact possible to create different lighting scenarios designed specifically for every eventuality.

Our products

Our product line is full of lighting fixtures that integrate well with the structure thanks to their discreet and minimal lines. But in cases where the designer wants to make light the protagonist, giving it a functional and artistic connotation, as in San Francesco del Prato, we create CUSTOM products, i.e. tailor-made according to the project.


Below are some of our standard products used within places of worship:


-Edo Binario
-Edo Plafone
-Edo Sospensione
-Edo Trim
-Edo Line
-Tilly Plafone
-Tilly Sospensione
-Edi
-Rio
-Kind
-Molly
-Strip Line
-Applique per Via Crucis


Following are other custom products, specifically created for the lighting of churches.