Santa Chiara and the adjacent monastery are a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church and Poor Clares nunnery respectively, located on Corso M. Fanti 79 in central

Carpi, Emilia-Romagna Carpi (; ) is an Italian town and ''comune'' of about 71,000 inhabitants in the province of Modena, Emilia-Romagna. It is a busy centre for industrial and craft activities and for cultural and commercial exchanges. History The name "Carpi" is der ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

History

The monastery was founded in 1490 by

Camilla Pio di Savoia Camilla Pio di Savoia (c. 1440 – 1504) was born an Italian noblewoman and later founded the first female monastery in Carpi, Italy, Santa Chiara, of which she was elected abbess. Her ''Cause for Canonization'' has been opened. Life Camilla w ...

, born to a noble family of Carpi, who became a nun in 1500 and died four years later. Her

incorrupt Incorruptibility is a Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox belief that divine intervention allows some human bodies (specifically saints and beati) to completely or partially avoid the normal process of decomposition after death as a sign of their ...

remains are exposed in the church. In the 17th century, one abbess was Eleonora, sister of the Cesare d'Este, Duke of Modena. The monastery is said to have been afflicted in the 17th century by an episode of group demonic possession. The church underwent reconstruction in a Neoclassical style in 1845, although the interiors maintain the

Renaissance architecture Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...

layout. The facade has a simple layout with two statues in niches. The church contains works by

Luigi Asioli is a fictional character featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario, Nintendo's masc ...

, and a Nativity by

Giulio Giulio () is an Italian given name. Notable people with the name include: * Giulio Alberoni (1664–1752), Italian cardinal and statesman * Giulio Alenio (1582–1649), Italian Jesuit missionary and scholar * Giulio Alfieri (1924–2002), Italian ...

and

Giacomo Francia Giacomo Raibolini (1484 – 3 January 1557), also called Giacomo Francia or Jacopo Francia, was an Italian painter and engraver of the Renaissance period. Francia was born in Bologna as elder son of Francesco Raibolini (Francesco Francia), an ...

and a ''Madonna of Soriano'' (1639) by

Giovanni Maria Botalla Giovanni Maria Bottala (1613–1644) was an Italian painter active in the Baroque period. He was born in Savona. He traveled to Rome as a young boy, and later became pupil of Pietro da Cortona in Rome. He painted in Rome, Naples, and Genoa. H ...

. The main altar is a work of scagliola by Giovanni Massa. The structure was damaged by the

2012 Northern Italy earthquakes In May 2012, two major earthquakes struck Northern Italy, causing 27 deaths and widespread damage. The events are known in Italy as the 2012 Emilia earthquakes, because they mainly affected the Emilia region. The first earthquake, registering ma ...

, and reopened later that year.Tempi
article by matteo Rigamonti, November 3, 2012.

References

{{coord missing, Italy

Chiara Chiara is a word and place name of Italian origin, meaning "bright" or "clear", and may refer to: People * Chiara (name) * Chiara da Montefalco, (1268–1308), an Augustinian nun and abbess * Chiara (Italian singer) or Chiara Galiazzo (born 1986 ...

Roman Catholic churches completed in 1845 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy 1490 establishments in Europe 15th-century establishments in Italy Renaissance architecture in Emilia-Romagna Neoclassical architecture in Emilia-Romagna Neoclassical church buildings in Italy