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

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.