Chiesa di Santa Caterina, Religious building in Bologna, Italy

Chiesa di Santa Caterina is a church building in Bologna with frescoes, medallions depicting the Evangelists, and decorative paintings throughout its interior. These artworks were created by different Italian artists who contributed to the decoration over several generations.

A church on this site is documented from 1289, or 1256 according to other sources, then reached by today's via Santa Caterina. In 1483 the building was rebuilt entirely, opening onto via Saragozza. In 1816 it was reconstructed to a design by architect Vincenzo Brighenti and inaugurated the next year under Cardinal Carlo Oppizzoni, with further works in 1863, 1874, 1894, 1904, 1911, 1954, 1984 and 1998.

The church is dedicated to Saint Catherine of Alexandria, whose martyrdom is depicted in a painting by Giovanni Antonio Burrini above the main altar. In the mid-18th century it sheltered former Jesuits expelled from the Spanish colonies, some buried here; they introduced devotion to the Virgin of Guadalupe, still observed. The bells are rung manually "a doppio" in the Bolognese method during parish feasts and when the San Luca image passes.

The church stands at via Saragozza 59, at the corner with via Santa Caterina, near Porta Saragozza; the portico of San Luca runs into its pronaos, so it is reached on foot under the arcade. The bell tower by Vincenzo Brighenti rises between the chapels, facing via Santa Caterina. The bells are rung manually "a doppio" in the Bolognese method on parish feast days and when the image of the Beata Vergine di San Luca passes during the descent and ascent processions.

The bells in the Brighenti-designed campanile form a "quarto" in A-flat major: three cast by Cesare Brighenti in 1947 and the small one in 1847. They are mounted for the Bolognese method and rung manually "a doppio" by master bell-ringers for parish feasts and each year when the Madonna di San Luca image passes the church.