Santa Maria in Castello, Carpi, Romanesque church in Carpi, Italy

Santa Maria in Castello, known as La Sagra, faces piazzale Re Astolfo in Carpi. Its 1515 Renaissance facade by Baldassarre Peruzzi stacks two architraved orders of different heights on one plane; the central portal carries a projecting relief of the Crucifixion. The flanks have arcades on half-columns with capitals carved with eagles and fantastic animals, and the bell tower rises 49.50 metres.

Tradition attributes its foundation to the Lombard king Aistulf in 752, though the first documentary evidence dates to 879. The present layout was established in the 12th century under the patronage of Matilda of Canossa, and the church was consecrated in 1184. In 1514 the nave was shortened and a barrel vault added; the facade followed in 1515, designed by Baldassarre Peruzzi. The vault was removed in 1886–1887 by engineer Achille Sammarini, revealing 12th-century frescoes.

The church is called La Sagra, a name still used locally. In the Chapel of Saint Catherine, built at the end of the 14th century, an anonymous 15th-century painter known as the Maestro della Sagra di Carpi covered the vault with three Archangels and a blessing Christ. The Chapel of Saint Martin, built in the 15th century, has a cross vault with the four Evangelists and walls with the four Doctors of the Church.

The church sits on a central plaza in the heart of Carpi and is easily accessible on foot. It remains open for regular services and can typically be entered outside service times for a brief visit.

The Romanesque pulpit carries high-relief figures of the four Evangelists' symbols. The church also keeps the 1351 marble sarcophagus by Sibellino da Caprara holding the remains of Manfredo I Pio, lord of Carpi. The 49.5-metre bell tower rises beside the building.