Beata Vergine di Lourdes Church
Address and contacts
How to get there
Albinea
By car
From Reggio Emilia A1 toolgate: take the national road SS63 in the direction of Castelnovo Monti. Past about 10 km, turn left towards Scandiano - Albinea
Historical notes
The first religious building on this spot was constructed in the year 1000 by Benedictine monks, devoted to San Prospero.
Although the parish church does not appear among those listed by Emperor Otto II, it can probably be placed historically within the Lombard-Frank period.
In the 16th century, the building was reduced to the status of an oratory and fell into disrepair.
The jurisdiction of the Church of San Martino di Bazzano (Montericco) as a parish church probably came to an end in 1570, since which time it gradually fell to ruin. In 1665, it was reduced to lay use.
During the first years of 1800 the priest Grossi desired to built a new Church because of the increasing number of worshippers and the small size of the Oliveto Church, but only in 1868, his successor Don Domenico Castellini with the help of Count Gaetano Castellini Tarabini, realized Grossi's desire. Tarabini encharged the engeneer Carlo Barbieri to built a Sanctuary dedicated to the Holy Virgin of Lourdes on the spot of the old and ruined S. Martino's Oratory.
The new Church was consecrated on April, 23rd 1899 and it was the first in Italy to be dedicated to the Madonna of Lourdes. The bell tower was added in 1910, together with the new rectory.
The façade of the Church, in Lombard-Gothic style, follows the lines of the sloping roof and faces north-east. It is intersected by pilaster strips and culminates in a sequence of blank arches.
Three cuspidal acroterions surmount each pinnacle. The complex is positioned in a particularly attractive environmental setting.
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