Chiesa di S. Martino

The Church of San Martino in Casalecchio di Reno was founded during the 17th century by the Frati Martiniani. For people coming from Bologna, the church may be suddenly seen after Villa Ghillini. Not so long ago the church used to overlook the entire city of Casalecchio di Reno, from the hill where the church was raised. Now, the high buildings tend to hide it but this church, considered as the mother of all the other churches in Casalecchio, always manages to stand out and to be admired. 

The original building, which included both a Church and a Monastery, experienced many changes in the past centuries: it was destroyed and then immediately rebuilt before the year one thousand; later, the monastery declined and the church started to be managed by the Canons of Santa Maria del Reno. 

The aspect of the church is relatively modern: it was redesigned by the bolognese architect Edoardo Collamarini in 1926 and in 1937 it was conscrated and opened by the archibishop of Bologna Giambattista Nasalli Rocca from Corneliano. Inside the church many valuable works of art are kept, such as: the altarpiece by the bolognese Emilio Taruffi, a painting representing Beata Vergine con S. Lucia e S. Agata by Dioniso Calvart, frescoes by Lambertini and a painting representing the four Evangelists by Dal Re and many others.

Source (Annamaria Dalmonte Polvani, Casalecchio di Reno, Percorsi e Immagini della sua civiltà, Pontenuovo Editrice Bologna, 1986, p. 142; Casalecchio di Reno, una città, la sua storia, la sua anima, Telesio Editrice, Milano 2003, p. 59).