The parish church (Pieve) of Santa Maria in Castello, also known as the Chiesa della Sagra is a Romanesque style church in the city of

Carpi Carpi may refer to: Places * Carpi, Emilia-Romagna, a large town in the province of Modena, central Italy * Carpi (Africa), a city and former diocese of Roman Africa, now a Latin Catholic titular bishopric People * Carpi (people), an ancie ...

, near

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...

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 ...

. It is remarkable for its Romanesque sculpted pulpit and portal, attributed to the school of Benedetto Antelami. The church was consecrated in 1184.

History

Tradition holds that the church was founded by the Lombard king

Aistulf Aistulf (also Ahistulf, Aistulfus, Haistulfus, Astolf etc.; it, Astolfo; died December 756) was the Duke of Friuli from 744, King of the Lombards from 749, and Duke of Spoleto from 751. His reign was characterized by ruthless and ambitious ef ...

in 752, however documentary evidence only exists from the 9th century (879). The present layout originally was laid out in the 12th century, under the patronage of Matilde di Canossa. The nave and interior was altered substantially in the year 1514, leaving only the apse as the only remaining medieval portion with some traces of frescoes. The facade (1515) was designed by Baldassarre Peruzzi. The nearly 50 meter high bell-tower was a late addition. The interior was restored in the late 19th century under the guidance of Achille Sammarini, who aimed to highlight the antique elements including the portal with a crucifixion, the sarcophagus of

Manfredo I Pio Manfredo is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Manfredo Alipala, Filipino boxer who competed at the 1964 Summer Olympics *Manfredo do Carmo (1928–2018), Brazilian mathematician, former president of the Brazilian Mathematical So ...

(1351), and the early 14th-century frescoes in the chapels of St Catherine and St Martin, work of

Antonio Alberti Antonio Alberti was an Italian painter, active mainly in the 15th century in his native city of Ferrara, as well as Bologna and Urbino. Biography He painted portraits and sacred subjects. For the sacristy of the church of San Bernardino, outside ...

of Ferrara. Comune of Modena
Tourism entry on church.

References

{{Authority control Buildings and structures completed in 1184 12th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches in Carpi, Emilia-Romagna Romanesque architecture in Emilia-Romagna