Lodi, Saint Mary Magdalen

Located in the heart of the low city, the church of the Magdalen has very old origins.
Built to include, on the right-hand side, the existing Romanesque construction, but with the opposite orientation, the church has a single longitudinal nave, with an ellipsoid plan organised with niches – chapels arranged symmetrically on both sides, to which are added, towards the entrance and the presbytery, two modules, one trapezoid and the other rectangular. Above the protruding mouldings, large windows open, which throw light on the central cupola and the ribbed vault. The round area and the pendentive of the central cap bear frescos of “The Glory of Saint Mary Magdalen”, “Theological Virtues” and “Exaltation of the Cross”, and the vault of the presbytery has “The Deposition”: all works of Carlo Innocenzo Carloni (from between 1752 and 1756). The altars, in polychrome marbles, with rich pediments, elegant balustrades and gates in wrought iron, are the work of local stonemasons and iron workers from between 1752 and 1757. The sacristy, in a double octagon, to a signed design by Veneroni, has wooden cupboards from the same period. The bell-tower in four orders, of the most classical form, was built between 1751 and 1752 by the brothers Sartorio. The curving facade is a reconstruction in eclectic taste from 1888.
Also worthy of note are the stuccos from the original church of 1643, and the statue in polychrome wood of the “Penitent Magdalen” and the Miraculous Crucifix, both from the 14th-15th centuries.