Church of Saint Nicholas (Chiesa di San Nicolò)

The church of San Nicolò, founded according to tradition in 1103, and in any case documented in the 12th century, was a Benedictine parish and priory. When the monks left the church, San Nicolò was entrusted to several commendatories, the last of whom was the prior Marco Pasqualetti, who completely rebuilt the building, which was in poor condition, and the bell tower, which had collapsed, according to Guarini, as early as 1380. The works were completed in 1475, when Pasqualetti ceded the priory of San Nicolò to Ercole I d’Este, who brought the Augustinian friars of San Girolamo da Fiesole to the monastery. In 1498, the duke undertook to enlarge the monastery and the church, which involved the construction of a new apse and the transept. The works were completed in 1500, although payments to the craftsmen involved continued into the following year.

Giorgio Padovani was the first to ascribe the apse to the ducal architect Biagio Rossetti in 1953. Although not supported by documents, the attribution seems confirmed by the characteristics of the architecture: the clear volume, the precise design of the arches, the simplicity of the extremely slender order, and the profile of the very protruding cornice are in keeping with Rossetti’s style.