Sant'Alessandro 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 ...

-style, Roman Catholic church located on in via Garibaldi #14 in central

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

, Italy. The facade of the church faces the church of the Steccata.

History

The church of Sant'Alessandro and the adjacent Benedictine monastery was founded first in the year 835, putatively patronized by Cunegonda, widow of

Bernard of Italy Bernard (797 – 17 April 818) was the King of Italy, from 810 to 817, within the Carolingian Empire. He was an illegitimate son and successor of King Pepin of Italy. He plotted against his uncle, Emperor Louis the Pious, when the latter's ''Ord ...

, King of the Lombards. In 837,

Pope Gregory IV Pope Gregory IV (; died 25 January 844) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from October 827 to his death on 25 January 844. His pontificate was notable for the papacy’s attempts to intervene in the quarrels between Emperor L ...

donated the remains of

Pope Alexander I Pope Alexander I (, died 115) was the bishop of Rome from about 108/109 to 116/119 (according to the 2012 ''Annuario Pontificio''). Some believe he suffered martyrdom under the Roman emperor Trajan or Hadrian. Life and legend According to the ...

(Saint Alexander) to this church. The monastery was also associated with Saint Berthold of Parma. The church was rebuilt in 1527 under the direction of the architect Bernardino Zaccagni, and in 1622-1624 under designs by Giovanni Battista Magnani. Turismo Parma
entry on church. The monastic community was dissolved by Napoleon in 1810, and the abbey was mostly later supplanted by the Royal Theater of Parma.

Interior Decoration

The ceiling of the nave was frescoed by Angelo Michele Colonna, while

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 ...

completed the illusionist cupola frescoes of the ''Redeemer, Madonna and angels carrying the instruments of the passion'', and by four pendants with ''Saints Bonaventure'', ''Gertrude'', ''Berthold'', and ''Alexander''. Tiarini also painted an altarpiece of '' St Berthold'' for the church. In the third chapel on the left, is a painting of the ''Madonna and child with St. Maurus and Benedict'', attributed to

Sebastiano Ricci Sebastiano Ricci (1 August 165915 May 1734) was an Italian Baroque painter of the late Baroque period in Venetian painting. About the same age as Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, Piazzetta, and an elder contemporary of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Tie ...

. The main altarpiece was painted by Girolamo Bedoli, and depicts the ''Madonna and child granting St Giustina the palm of martyrdom, while Saint Benedict grants St Alexander a incense bearer''. The organ, non-functioning, dates from 1856, and was constructed by Antonio Sangalli.

References

835 establishments Religious buildings and structures completed in the 830s 9th-century churches in Italy 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches completed in 1624 Alessandro Baroque architecture in Parma 9th-century establishments in Italy {{EmiliaRomagna-RC-church-stub