Votive Church (Chiesa del Voto)

The beautiful Baroque structure of the Votive Church is a reminder of the great plague of 1630, which also claimed many victims in Modena. To stop the plague, the community and Duke Francesco I vowed to erect a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

The church, with its monumental architecture inspired by that of S. Salvatore in Bologna, was designed by Cristoforo Malagoli known as Il Galaverna and forms the perspective backdrop to the ancient wood market (now the Corso Duomo). Several works of art are housed inside, the most valuable of which is the magnificent votive altarpiece with the Virgin and the Patron Saints of Modena, by Ludovico Lana.