The Collegiate Church of St Florentius (Italian: Collegiata San Fiorenzo) is a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

style,

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 ...

collegiate, now parish church, in

Fiorenzuola d'Arda Fiorenzuola d'Arda (; , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Italy in the province of Piacenza, part of the Emilia-Romagna region. Its name derives from ''Florentia'' ("prosperous" in Latin). The "d'Arda" portion refers to the River Arda which flows ...

, in the

Province of Piacenza The province of Piacenza () is a province in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Its provincial capital is the city Piacenza. As of 2016, it has a total population of 286,572 inhabitants over an area of , giving it a population density of 111.38 ...

, 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

A church at the site, dedicated to St. Boniface, was present here in 824; later documents note a church dedicated to St. Fiorenzo was rebuilt here in 1273. The Romanesque crypt still maintains an altar dedicated to St Boniface. However construction was not accelerated until 1485. The interior chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento was built in 1685 in

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. The apse, presbytery, and nave have frescoes mainly focused on the ''Life of San Fiorenzo'' by 15th century artists. The stuccoes in the Chapel of the Holy Sacrament were complete by Giacomo Marcori in 1681, and frescoed by Bartolomeo Baderna. It contains a painting depicting the ''Parable of the Convict'' (1668) by Jacopo Ferrari, and on the walls two canvases (1674-1675) by Pietro Galli. The 18th-century main altar was designed by

Giovanni Paolo Panini Giovanni Paolo, also known as Gian Paolo Panini or Pannini (17 June 1691 – 21 October 1765), was an Italian Baroque painter and architect who worked in Rome and is primarily known as one of the ''vedutisti'' ("view painters"). As a painter, Pani ...

and completed by Giovanni Maria Bignetti in 1741. The third altar on the left has a painting depicting the ''Miracle of San Fiorenzo'' (1741) by

Marco Benefial Marco Benefial (25 April 1684 – 9 April 1764) "Marco Benefial (Getty Museum)" (history), The Getty Museum, 2006, webpage: GM-Benefial. was an Italian, proto- Neoclassical painter, mainly active in Rome. Benefial is best known for h ...

. The central pilaster have fragments of frescoes from 1520 and earlier depicting the Madonna. The ciborium dates from the late 11th-century. The organ (1733) built by Giovanni Domenico Traeri was frescoed in the 15th century. The church also has paintings by Giovanni Battista Natali and Antonio Alessandri.Museums of Piacenza
site, entry on church. Not far from the church is the ''Oratory della Buona Morte'' with an oval cupola.''Emilia Romagna''
by the Touring Club Italiano, Touring editore srl, 1991, page 622.

References

{{coord, 44.9278, 9.9110, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:IT, display=title Gothic architecture in Emilia-Romagna Churches in the province of Piacenza 15th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy

History

Further reading

References