St. Peter's Church, Romanesque church in Gallarate, Italy

St. Peter's Church is a Romanesque church in Gallarate, the oldest in the town, built between the 11th and 13th centuries by Comacine masters with Gothic elements. Interwoven arches with capitals carved in plant and animal forms run along the exterior perimeter, where bas-reliefs stand at the corners. The interior has a single nave under a gabled roof, and false loggias with columns run along the upper nave walls and the apse hemicycle.

The building was constructed between the 11th and 13th centuries by Comacine masters and served briefly as a fortress in the 15th century. This dual use as both church and stronghold was typical of such structures during that period.

The church was long a reference point for Gallarate and the Seprio county after Castelseprio's destruction, and served as parish church. Later it housed meetings, a carpenters' workshop and a butcher's shop. Look for the interlaced arches running along the outer perimeter, whose capitals take forms from the plant and animal kingdoms, with low reliefs on the walls and outer corners.

The church stands in Gallarate's historic centre, in the province of Varese under the Archdiocese of Milan. The entrance door was moved from its original position during later alterations, so the facade no longer matches the medieval layout. The bell tower was demolished in the 1897–1911 restoration, leaving the apse and wooden roof rebuilt.

Restoration work between 1897 and 1911 uncovered medieval architectural elements that had been hidden beneath earlier renovations. These discoveries reveal how the building's layers accumulated over centuries.