Santa Maria di Canepanova is a Renaissance style Roman Catholic church located in central Pavia, region of Lombardy, Italy. Although in the past the design was popularly attributed to Bramante, the church was designed by Giovanni Antonio Amadeo.
Church was built from 1500 to 1507 by Amadeo, who had previously built the tambour of the Milan Cathedral and had been invited by Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, brother of Duke Ludovico Sforza, to direct the construction works in the Pavia Cathedral.
For Santa Maria di Canepanova, Amadeo adopted the so-called ad quadratum style, influenced by his master Guiniforte Solari, and which had already been used in the Cappella Colleoni in Bergamo. The church is centrally planned and has a cubic form, over which rises an octagonal tambour with four small bell towers at the corners. The interior is decorated by Camillo Procaccini with works depicting the Women of the Bible.
References:Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.
Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.
There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.