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Church of Montericco in Reggio Emilia

This church was constructed in the year 1000 by Benedictine monks devoted to San Prospero.
Although the parish church does not appear among those listed by Emperor Otto II, it can probably be placed historically within the Lombard-Frank period. Before suffering a sacrilegious burglary, the church used to contain numerous artworks which, together with the surviving 17th-century fresco, formed an outstanding artistic decor.

In the 16th century, the building was reduced to the status of an oratory and fell into disrepair. The jurisdiction of the Church of San Martino di Bazzano (Montericco) as a parish church probably came to an end in 1570, since which time it gradually fell to ruin. In 1665, it was reduced to lay use. Construction of the new temple dedicated to the Beata Vergine Immacolata di Lourdes started in 1896 on a design by the engineer Carlo Barbieri from Modena, a pupil of the architect Costa. It was the first church in Italy to be dedicated to the Madonna of Lourdes. The building in Lombard-Gothic style was completed in 1898. It has a single nave and four side chapels. Subsequently the elegant bell tower was added, together with a new presbytery. The façade follows the lines of the sloping roof and faces north-east. It is intersected by pilaster strips and culminates in a sequence of blank arches. Three cuspidal acroterions surmount each pinnacle. The complex is positioned in a particularly attractive environmental setting.

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