San Pietro, Reggio Emilia


San Pietro is a Baroque style, Roman Catholic church in central Reggio Emilia, Italy.

History

A church at the site putatively existed in the 12th century, but in 1513 the Benedictine Order was authorized by Pope Leo X to move from a convent out of the city walls to this site inside the walls, because of military reasons, and to build a church with an adjacent monastery. The present church was built in the 17th century under designs of various architects coordinated by Giulio della Torre from Bologna, while the cupola was designed by Paolo Messori from Reggio. The church follows the rules given by the Council of Trent and is a remarkable example of an architecture still true to its original design. Only the façade was built in the 18th century. The interior has paintings by Alessandro Tiarini, Paolo Emilio Besenzi, Pietro Desani and Malossi.
The monastery is of great interest, thanks to its two cloisters. The smaller, built in 1524, is a pure example of the Renaissance style, while the bigger one, built some decades later, is strongly reminiscent of Palazzo Te by Giulio Romano.