Church of Santa Maria della Pace
Church of Santa Maria della PaceVia della Pace, 10, 25122, Brescia (BS)oratoriobrescia.it/chiesa-della-pace
The church of Santa Maria della Pace was built between 1720 and 1746 to a design by Venetian architect Giorgio Massari. Dedicated to the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, it was solemnly consecrated on 24 May 1746 by Cardinal Angelo Maria Querini, then Bishop of Brescia.
THE CHURCH
The façade remains unfinished, but the majesty of the building is immediately striking. The neoclassical portal leads to an airy, single-nave interior, punctuated by Corinthian half-columns in pink Botticino marble. The two domes, one monumental in size, diffuse a soft light over every surface.
Massari imagined a unified, coherent, refined space. And he succeeded in creating just that.
The monochrome frescoes in the nave were executed between 1738 and 1741: Giovanni Zanardi painted the architectural elements, Francesco Monti the figures.
A celestial tale that transforms architecture into vision.
The side chapels house 18th-century Brescian masterpieces.
Sculptures include those by Antonio Calegari on the high altar and the second altar on the right, and the marble copy of the Immaculate Conception, kept in the sacristy, which echoes the gilded figure on the dome.
Next to the church is the House of the Fathers, built on the foundations of the former palace of Bartolomeo Colleoni (1455). All that now remains of the building is a 15th-century courtyard with a portico and arcade with pointed arches: a fragment of history in the heart of Brescia.
Santa Maria della Pace is a place where harmony isn’t just aesthetic. It’s an experience.