Abbey of San Bartolo (Abbazia di San Bartolo)

The origins of the ancient Benedictine abbey, located south-east of Ferrara, in Borgo della Misericordia, near Auguscello, are shrouded in legend. However, all historians agree in placing the date of its foundation in the 9th century. It was not until 1464 that San Bartolo joined the rigorist current of the Cistercians, which arose within the Benedictine order in 1098 in Citeaux (Cistercium) and was spread across Europe by Bernardo di Chiaravalle in the following century. The abbey grew in wealth and fame and became an Este commendam. The complex was repeatedly extended and renovated. On the architrave of the church portal, a Latin epigraph attributes its construction to Abbot Critoforo, in 1294, which undoubtedly only refers to a limited portion of the building.

There have been numerous renovations of the complex and only in-depth studies could arrive at a convincing dating of the different parts of the complex, many of which are still original. 

In 1955, thanks to some restoration work on the walls, the frescoes in the presbytery, in the five apsidal lunettes and in the prothyrum, painted by an artist known as Maestro di San Bartolo, came to light.