Basilica of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Gothic church in Cortemaggiore, Italy.
The Basilica of Santa Maria delle Grazie is a brick church in Cortemaggiore with a Latin-cross plan, three naves and five bays. Its neo-Gothic tripartite facade, rebuilt in 1880-1881, has full-height pilasters ending in terracotta spires, mosaic saints in pointed single-light windows, and a central stone portal topped by a mosaic lunette and a stone statue of Saint Lawrence. A square, three-order bell tower stands against the presbytery on the right side.
In 1481 Marquis Gian Lodovico I Pallavicino and his son Rolando II commissioned architect Gilberto Manzi to design the church, replacing the older San Lorenzo. Consecrated in 1499 with only the apse and first bays built, it became a collegiate church in 1513; work resumed with funding from the Chapter and local people and ended in 1567-1569. In 1812 the marble mausoleum of Gian Lodovico and Anastasia Torelli was moved here from the suppressed Annunziata convent.
The left aisle holds the white marble mausoleum of Gian Lodovico I Pallavicino and Anastasia Torelli, carved in 1499 for Rolando II and moved here in 1812 from the Annunziata. The Rosary chapel keeps Pompeo Batoni's Madonna with Child and Saint Louis Gonzaga and a restored Pietà by Il Pordenone; the crypt has a 1522 fresco of Christ rising from the tomb, attributed to Antonietto de' Renzi.
The church is typically accessible during regular opening hours, with guided tours organized through the local tourism office. It is helpful to check beforehand about current visiting conditions and tour availability.
The 1499 polyptych by Filippo Mazzola, father of Parmigianino, was broken up during the 1880 restorations and its panels scattered. Most were reassembled only in 2003; a Saint Christopher is now in the National Museum in Budapest, while a Saviour panel is still unlocated.
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