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Basilica of St Mary Campagna

Overview

The church is set near the countryside outside central Piacenza, and was built at the request of the local people in the 1520s, to house a much-worshipped statue of the Virgin with Child, on the spot where an earlier sacred building had stood since the year 1000. The 14th-century statue can still be seen on the main altar.

The architecture of the Basilica, designed by Alessio Tramello, is a compact Greek cross – in brick, like many buildings on the Piacenza plain. It has a tall octagonal tiburium in the centre with four smaller ones above the corner chapels.

The interior of the central tiburium, the vault of the dome, is a masterpiece of frescoes painted shortly after construction by Giovanni Antonio de’ Sacchis ("Il Pordenone"), then completed by Bernardino Gatti ("Il Sojaro"). But the pictorial decoration is everywhere: the chapels were also painted by Il Pordenone. This church, which in 2022 celebrated half a millennium since its original design, also contains artworks by – among others – Galeazzo, Giulio and Bernardino Campi, Camillo Procaccini, Guercino and Galli Bibiena. 

Hours

Sunday - Saturday
07:00 am-12:00 pm
03:30 pm-07:15 pm
Basilica of St Mary Campagna

Piazzale delle Crociate, 5, 29121 Piacenza PC, Italia

Call +390523490728 Website
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