San Martino church, also called San Martino Maggiore is a 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 ...

church located at the corner of Via Marsala and Via Guglielmo Oberdan in

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, region of Emilia Romagna, Italy. The church was founded by the adjacent

Carmelite The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (; abbreviated OCarm), known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Catholic Church for both men and women. Histo ...

monastery. On 10 August 1704 via the authority of the Vatican Chapter, the venerated image of the Virgin of Mount Carmel was crowned by

Pope Clement XI Pope Clement XI (; ; ; 23 July 1649 – 19 March 1721), born Giovanni Francesco Albani, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 November 1700 to his death in March 1721. Clement XI was a patron of the arts an ...

. On 25 August 1941,

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

elevated it to the status of

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

History

A church at the site was built in 1217. The brick tracery vaults of the ceiling were added in 1457. The present facade was added in 1879, in a Gothic style, and displays statues of various saints. Atop a pillar in the piazza just in front of the church is a statue of the ''Madonna and Child with a Scapular'' (1705) by Andrea Ferreri. In the lunette above the side entrance portal is a bas-relief of ''St Martin on horseback giving half his robe to a Beggar'' (1531) by Francesco Manzini; the portal has a classical decoration with bucranium (cow skulls). Along the right hand

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

is this first chapel is a painting of the ''Adoration by the Magi'' (1532) by

Girolamo da Carpi Girolamo Da Carpi (1501 – 1 August 1556) was an Italian painter and decorator who worked at the Court of the House of Este in Ferrara. He began painting in Ferrara, by report apprenticing to Benvenuto Tisi (il Garofalo); but by age 20, he h ...

. The next one shows ''Carmelite Saints'' (mid-17th century) by Cesare Gennari. Along the right hand of the nave, on a stone column, are 15th-century frescoes depicting ''St Anthony, Onofrius, and Elias'' by Lippo Dalmasio. Vitale da Bologna's ''Crucifixion'' was completed in the 15th century for this church. The main altarpiece is an ''Enthroned Madonna with Saints'' (1548) by Girolamo da Sermoneta. The first chapel on the left is decorated with an ''Assumption of the Virgin'' (1506) by

Lorenzo Costa Lorenzo Costa (1460 – 5 March 1535) was an Italian painter. Biography He was born at Ferrara, but moved to Bologna by his early twenties, and was probably influenced by the Bolognese school, Bolognese School. However, many artists worked in ...

. The statue of ''Santa Maria Maddalena de Pazzi'' was named after the ancient and noble family of

Pazzi The Pazzi were a powerful family in the Republic of Florence. Their main trade during the fifteenth century was banking. In the aftermath of the Pazzi conspiracy in 1478, members of the family were banished from Florence and their property was ...

who originally came from Florence. The statue was transferred to the church from the Carmelite monastery of Santa Maria in Florence. On the left, is a chapel dedicated to the Madonna del Carmine. The sculptural decoration was completed by Alfonso Torreggiani in 1756. Vittorio Bigari, Guglielmo Borgognone, Alessandro Tiarini and Giacomo Sementi also worked on the decoration. In this last chapel the first above the altar here is the ''Madonna and Saints'' by Francesco Francia from the late 15th century, while under the altar table is a ''Deposition'' (early 16th century) by Amico Aspertini. This painting of ''St Elias the Prophet'' is by Alessandro Guardassoni followed with a fragment of the '' Nativity'' (mid-15th century) by

Paolo Uccello Paolo Uccello ( , ; 1397 – 10 December 1475), born Paolo di Dono, was an Italian Renaissance painter and mathematician from Florence who was notable for his pioneering work on visual Perspective (graphical), perspective in art. In his book ''Liv ...

, and a terracotta statue of the Madonna del Carmine by

Jacopo Della Quercia Jacopo della Quercia (, ; 20 October 1438), also known as Jacopo di Pietro d'Agnolo di Guarnieri, was an Italian sculptor of the Early Renaissance, a contemporary of Brunelleschi, Ghiberti and Donatello. Biography Jacopo della Quercia takes hi ...

from the 15th century. In a room next to the church is the

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christianity, Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is us ...

. Along the right hand side of the sacristy is where that small piece of the ''Nativity'' by

used to be. In fact, the fresco spanned the entire side, but was destroyed during reconstructions.

Sources

Iguidez entry
{{Coord, 44, 29, 50, N, 11, 20, 48, E, type:landmark_source:kolossus-itwiki, display=title Martino 13th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Martino