Overview
The building of San Barbaziano, located in Bologna at the intersection of Via Barberia and Via Cesare Battisti, is a former church that was built between 1608 and 1612 by Pietro Fiorini in order to replace the old church of the convent of the same name, which was no longer considered suitable for the new religious directives defined by the Council of Trento. It has a single nave, with eight side chapels, four on each side, some of which belonged to the original church and were incorporated into the new construction. Due to the Napoleonic wars, in 1797 the church and its convent were seized, sold to private individuals who turned it into a warehouse, and stripped the building of its adornments. In 1870, ownership passed to the military, which continued its misuse, even equipping it with a loft. This long period of abuse led to the decommissioning of most of the church's adornments and its current inadequate conservation. Currently, the ownership of San Barbaziano has passed to the Regional Museums Directorate of Emilia-Romagna, which, together with the Regional Secretariat, is in the process of securing and restoring the building.
