Santa Maria Maggiore, Mirandola, Gothic church building in Mirandola, Italy.
Santa Maria Maggiore, known as the duomo of Mirandola, stands on piazza della Conciliazione. The late-Gothic interior has three naves with ribbed cross vaults that once carried a timber roof; the façade was rebuilt in a 15th-century and pseudo-Renaissance style, and the bell tower at the rear dates from the 17th century.
The church was begun in 1440 when Mirandola was an independent state ruled by the Pico family. This location was then a center of power and religious importance in the region.
The church holds religious artworks inside that reflect the devotion and faith of Mirandola's people across centuries. These works tell the story of the values and hopes that the community has shared within this space.
The church reopened for worship on 21 September 2019 after restoration costing about 5,875,000 euros, so it is no longer closed as older notices suggest. It stands on Piazza della Conciliazione, known as Piazza Duomo, in the historic centre. The 2012 earthquake brought down the timber roof and vaults, and the rebuilt interior reflects that repair.
The walnut choir behind the main altar dates from the 17th century, and the altarpiece now seen there is a copy: the Francia brothers' Assumption of the Virgin, painted around 1520, was sold in 1818 to Duke Francesco IV of Modena. The painter Pietro Annigoni frescoed the Crucifixion in the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament in 1983, in memory of his father Ricciardo, born in Mirandola in 1870.
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