Cathedral

Address and contacts

Piazza Giuseppe Mazzini - 42016 Guastalla
Phone 0039 0522 839763 - Tourist information office
uit@comune.guastalla.re.it

How to get there

See the indication to reach Guastalla

Historical notes

It was consecrated in 1575 by Cardinal Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan and brother-in-law of the ruler of Guastalla. The statues of Saints Peter and Paul located in the Cathedral were donated by Cardinal Borromeo before his return to Milan.
The church has undergone numerous restoration works over the centuries. The façade has changed from the simple lines of earlier times, to the present more elaborate and original design. In 1671, the architect Antonio Vasconi designed the side chapel of the Holy Sacrament which contains frescoes by Giovan Battista Bolognini. The main façade underwent major alterations in 1813, with further important changes being made between 1841 and 1845 by the architect Giuseppe Pollini Rizzardi. During that period, the large windows were placed on the main façade, the round windows were set into the dome, and the 17th-century altars were replaced. The original brick and Verona marble floor inside the church was replaced with black and white polychrome marble in 1889.
The church contains numerous sacred works of historical and artistic value such as the cedar-wood statue of the Madonna of the Castle, originally housed in the 15th-century castle, the Madonna and Infant Jesus from the school of Emilia (oil on canvas, circa 1620), St. Joseph with the Infant Jesus by Gerolamo Degiovanni (late 17th-century polychrome wood), St. Francis receiving the stigmata from the Cremona school (late 16th-century oil on canvas), Our Lady of the Rosary (17th-century polychrome wood), and the Baptism of Christ by Gualdi.

Useful link

Restoration of the Cathedral
Holy mess times