Chiesa di San Gaudenzo

San Gaudenzo is the parish church of Rimini's Borgo Sant'Andrea, a neighbourhood that developed outside Porta Montanara during the nineteenth century. Its present building reflects reconstruction after the Second World War rather than the survival of an ancient sanctuary.

Why it matters

The dedication honours Rimini's patron saint. The parish's nineteenth-century foundation renewed that dedication after the destruction of an older San Gaudenzo church near the Via Flaminia, a separate building with a different history.

What to notice

Luigi Campanini's post-war church replaced a smaller neoclassical building with a broader, taller interior, side chapels and a substantial bell tower. Elio Morri's relief of the blessing Saint Gaudenzo occupies the portal lunette. His bronze crucifix, installed in 1980, adds a later sculptural focus.

Context and history

The first church here, designed by Filippo Morolli, was inaugurated in 1856; the parish followed in 1858. Its bell tower collapsed in the earthquake of 1916 and was rebuilt in 1921. Bombing destroyed the church in March 1944. Reconstruction and enlargement in 1948–1950 produced the building associated with the modern parish.