Church of the Rosary, or Chiesa del Rosario, 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 The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church located on Via San Salvatore in

Cento Cento (; Bolognese dialect, Northern Bolognese: ; Bolognese dialect, City Bolognese: ; Bolognese dialect, Centese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. History The name Cento is a reference to the centur ...

Province of Ferrara The province of Ferrara (; ) is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Italy, Italian region of Emilia-Romagna. Its capital is the city of Ferrara. As of May 2023, it has a population of 338,143 inhabitants over an area of . The province contains ...

, Region of

Emilia-Romagna Emilia-Romagna (, , both , ; or ; ) is an Regions of Italy, administrative region of northern Italy, comprising the historical regions of Emilia (region), Emilia and Romagna. Its capital is Bologna. It has an area of , and a population of 4.4 m ...

, Italy.

History

Construction of the church began in 1633, using designs by Algarotto, commissioned by the Confraternity ''del Rosario'', which was operating initially from a church in Borgo da Sera inferiore. The church was consecrated in 1645.

Guercino Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591 – December 22, 1666),Miller, 1964 better known as (il) Guercino (), was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from Cento in the Emilia region, who was active in Rome and Bologna. The vigorous n ...

was for many years prior of the confraternity; and he helped design the facade. Part of the funds came from ex votos in gratitude for cessation of the plague epidemic of 1631. Due to damage from 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-Romagna, Emilia region. The first earthquake ...

, restorations were in progress in 2014. The church still maintains the elaborate main altar, designed the architect and scenic designer Ferdinando Galli Bibiena.Comune of Cento
information.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosary, Cento Roman Catholic churches in Cento Baroque architecture in Cento 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy