Church of San Paolo

The current church, facing on one of the little squares of the medieval city dates back to the end of the 16th century and it was built by the architect Alberto Schiatti; it replaces a more ancient building dedicated to the Holy Apostle, destroyed or otherwise seriously damaged by the earthquake of 1570

Officiated for centuries by Carmelite monks, the temple was the object of many bequests and donations from wealthy families.

The church is adjacent to the ex Monastery of San Paolo and to Leuti's tower, the oldest building of the city (IX century), gifted by the marquis Nicolò II to the monks of the church to make a bell tower out of it.

The inside of the church is based on a latin cross structure and it is divided into three aisles, rich in many works of art of great interest from the 16th and 17th centuries, which makes this church a museum of the late Reinassance artists from Ferrara. The two side aisles present each five chapels richly decorated in styles ranging from late Mannerism to late Baroque.

In the left aisle, of particular note is The Descent of the Holy Spirit by Scarsellino in the third chapel, The Resurrection and The Circumcision by Bastianino in the fourth and fifth. Works by the same artists are also to be seen in the opposite aisle: The Birth of St. John the Baptist by Scarsellino in the third chapel and The Annunciation by Bastianino in the fifth one. The central aisle was decorated between the end of the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th.

In the right transept, below the organ, we can admire St. Jerome by Girolamo da Carpi. Works realised by Domenico Mona are The Adoration of the Magi, behind the high altar and, to the sides of the presbytery, The Conversion and The Decollation of St. Paul. In the vault of the apse we can admire Elijah’s Abduction, by Scarsellino, a fresco that opened a new chapter in Italian Baroque painting (the works are currently being restored).