San Pietro ("Saint Peter") is a

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

Roman Catholic church located at Via Campo Samarotto 1, with its façade facing Via Emilia San Pietro, in the southwestern part of central

Reggio Emilia Reggio nell'Emilia (; ), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until Unification of Italy, 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has about 172,51 ...

, Italy.

History

A document from 1140 acknowledges a church-monastery dedicated to Saints Pietro and Prospero existing outside the city walls (extra muros), on the road to Modena. However, the fighting in the region had displaced the Benedictines from that monastery, and for their protection, in 1513 the bishop Albericone, under

Pope Leo X Pope Leo X (; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political and banking Med ...

, consecrated a new church and convent at this site. The present church was built in the 17th century under designs of various architects initially led by Giulio della Torre from

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, while the

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

(1625–1629) was designed by Paolo Messori from Reggio. The church layout follows the rules given by the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent (), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation at the time, it has been described as the "most ...

and is a remarkable example of an architecture still true to its original design. Only the

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

was built in the 18th century. The interior has paintings by

Alessandro Tiarini Alessandro Tiarini (20 March 1577 – 8 February 1668) was an Italian Baroque painter of the Bolognese School. Biography Alessandro Tiarini was born in Bologna. His mother died when he was a child, and he was raised by an aunt. Early on his fa ...

, Paolo Emilio Besenzi, Pietro Desani and Malossi. The monastery is of great interest, thanks to its two

cloisters A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a warm southe ...

. The smaller, built in 1524 under the designs of Bartolomeo Spani and Leonardo Pacchioni, is an example of the sober high

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

style, while the larger one, built sixty years later under Prospero and Francesco Pacchioni, is strongly reminiscent of the courtyard of the

Palazzo Te , or simply , is a palace in the suburbs of Mantua, Italy. It is an example of the mannerist style of architecture, and the acknowledged masterpiece of Giulio Romano. Name The palace is mostly referred to by English-speaking writers, especi ...

in Mantua designed by

Giulio Romano Giulio Pippi ( – 1 November 1546), known as Giulio Romano and Jules Romain ( , ; ), was an Italian Renaissance painter and architect. He was a pupil of Raphael, and his stylistic deviations from High Renaissance classicism help define the ...

.Reggio Emilia Welcome site

Gallery

File:San Pietro (Reggio Emilia) 02.JPG, Interior nave of church File:San Pietro (Reggio Emilia) 03.JPG, Main altar L'imponente cupola che domina la città.jpg, Cupola or dome of church File:Chiostri Di San Pietro.JPG, Smaller cloister File:Chiostri Di San Pietro (3).JPG, Larger cloister

References

Roman Catholic churches in Reggio Emilia 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches completed in 1629 Baroque architecture in Reggio Emilia 1513 establishments in Italy 1629 establishments in Italy {{EmiliaRomagna-RC-church-stub