Basilica del Carmine, Minor basilica and parish church in Piazza Petrarca, Padua, Italy.
Basilica del Carmine is a brick church on Piazza Francesco Petrarca whose unfinished facade has partial marble facing and a main portal completed in 1412. Inside, a single nave with side chapels leads to a dome; the polychrome marble pavement and 17th-century canvases line the walls. The adjacent Scuola del Carmine preserves 16th-century frescoes by Girolamo Tessari, Giulio Campagnola and Stefano dall'Arzere.
The church was founded in 1212 and underwent major reconstruction in 1335 that shaped its current structure. In 1960, Pope John XXIII granted it the status of a minor basilica.
The church keeps the cult of the Madonna di dietro Corte, also called Madonna dei Lumini: an icon carried here in procession on 12 October 1576 during the plague, after which the deaths ceased. The civic procession was held every year until 1868; today the parish celebrates with liturgies on 12 October, and the processional statue of the Madonna del Carmine is carried through the quarter every 16 July.
The church faces Piazza Francesco Petrarca, with the Scuola del Carmine and its 15th-century cloister adjacent to the basilica. The main portal, completed in 1412, is on the facade; the left flank carries a plaque to parishioners who died in the Second World War. The Festa dei Lumini is held on 2 February, and the processional statue of the Madonna del Carmine is carried through the quarter on 16 July.
The building survived multiple earthquakes in 1491 and 1696 as well as bombing raids during both World Wars. Despite these severe shocks, the church retained most of its original architecture.
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