Reggio Emilia

Temple of the Blessed Virgin of the Ghiara (Tempio della Beata Vergine della Ghiara)

Edited by

Daniele Pascale

Places of worship

Other denominations

Chiesa della Madonna della Ghiara/Basilica della Ghiara/ Basilica della B. V. della Ghiara/Santuario della Madonna della Ghiara

D'Este's People

Alfonso II, Francesco I, Maria Teresa Cybo Malaspina

Artists / Humanists

Alessandro Balbi, Alessandro Tiarini, Carlo Bononi, Cosimo Pugliani, Francesco Orso, Francesco Pacchioni, Giacomo Novo, Giovan Battista Aleotti, Giovan Battista Magnani, Giovanni Antonio Cybei, Giovanni Bianchi, Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, Lelio Orsi, Lionello Spada, Lorenzo Franchi, Lorenzo Garbieri, Luca Ferrari, Tommaso Sandrini

Description

The monumental church of the Madonna (Virgin Mary) della Ghiara was built by the Reggio Emilia community, with the approval of the Este family, following a miraculous event that occurred in 1596: according to legend, a 16th-century image of the Virgin Mary had restored the speech and hearing of a deaf-mute boy. Large donations soon flowed in and the church was completed as early as 1604, based on a design by Alessandro Balbi, revised by Francesco Pacchioni. The interior of the temple is a true masterpiece of proto-Baroque decoration: the sumptuous stucco cornices frame a magnificent cycle frescoed by a team of painters led by the Bologna artists Alessandro Tiarini and Lionello Spada. The magnificent marble altars in the transept, house the miraculous fresco of the Virgin, painted around the middle of the 16th century to a design by Lelio Orsi, and Guercino’s impressive Crucifixion. The adjoining museum contains numerous examples of sacred jewellery from the 16th and 17th centuries and a large collection of votive offerings.

Useful information

Address

corso Garibaldi, 44

Municipality

REGGIO NELL`EMILIA

Province

Reggio Emilia

Visitability of the place

Open to visits

Themes

Liturgic Adjustment (eg. : Counter-Reformation)

Website

https://turismo.comune.re.it/it/reggio-emilia/scopri-il-territorio/arte-e-cultura/chiese-pievi-battisteri/basilica-della-beata-vergine-della-ghiara

Tourer

https://www.tourer.it/mappa?id=1994