San Nicolò is a Romanesque and 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 in

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

, region of Veneto, Italy. It stands in front of a homonymous piazza, and is adjacent to the Palazzo Meschini and Palazzo Brunelli-Bonetti.

History

The church was first documented to the 11th century, when it was consigned to monks of the order of St Peter (''Monache di San Pietro''). It is dedicated to San

Nicholas of Myra Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya Province, Turkey) dur ...

, and apparently later acquired some relics of the saint. In a document from 1178, bishop Gerardo recalls it among the parishes of Padua. It underwent substantial refurbishment in the early 14th-century. By 1546, the church was known to have 11 altars, many owned by local neighborhood aristocratic families, including the Forzatè. Further refurbishments occurred in the 17th and 18th-centuries. The bell-tower was rebuilt in the 19th-century in a gothic-style. The latest restoration (1966-1971) stripped much of the baroque interior decoration. The interior houses a main altarpiece depicting the ''Holy Family with the Saint Francesca Romana and Eurosia'' (1777) by

Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo (August 30, 1727March 3, 1804) was an Italian painter and printmaker in etching. He was the son of artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and elder brother of Lorenzo Baldissera Tiepolo. Life history Domenico was born in V ...

; it was moved to this location in 1966. The apse has traces of 15th century frescoes attributed to Giovanni da Pisa. In the Altar of the Holy Sacrament is a depiction San Liberale attributed to Jacopo Parisati. Two frescoes depicting a ''Crucifixion'' and the ''Life of John the Baptist'' are attributed to Gerardino da Reggio, and were commissioned in 1374 by Marco Forzatè. The chapel of the baptistry is also linked to the Forzatè family and has a

triptych A triptych ( ) is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all m ...

from the 14th century. The church once had a ''Crucifixion'' altarpiece by

Andrea Schiavone Andrea Meldolla (), also known as Andrea Schiavone or Andrea lo Schiavone, literally "Andrew the Slav", (c. 1510/15–1563) was an Italian Renaissance painter and etcher, born in Dalmatia, in the Republic of Venice (present-day Croatia) to p ...

but it was moved to the Palace of Count Frigimelica, later owned by Count Salvatica.Gennari, page 8.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicolo Padua Roman Catholic churches in Padua Gothic architecture in Veneto 15th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy