The San Lorenzo Rotunda is one of the oldest religious buildings in Mantua (it was built in the 11th century) and located in Piazza delle Erbe.
History
The year 1083 could be the year of construction.
The tradition has it that it was built at the request of Matilda of Canossa, as an evocation of the Anastasis (Resurrection) of Jerusalem, the rotunda built around the Holy Sepulcher, therefore ideally connected to the relic of the Blood of Christ found centuries earlier in Mantua and now preserved in the nearby crypt of the Basilica of Sant’Andrea.
The church of the “Rotunda,” so called familiarly by the people of Mantua, is dedicated to San Lorenzo and is probably the oldest church in the city; this church of a rare form, could remind of an ancient baptistery but it is not; in fact, it is an example of Romanesque art, it is structured on a central plan, with a semi-circular apse, and presents an upper gallery that conserves traces of frescoes from the 11th-12th centuries that represent a rare example of Lombard-Romanesque painting, of Byzantine school.
It was part of the pilgrimage route to the relic of the Holy Blood, the most important of Christianity, preserved in Mantua. Thousands and thousands of pilgrims, for over twelve centuries, came on pilgrimage to Mantua to admire and pray in front of the Holy Vessels.
Over the centuries, the building underwent radical changes; a redesign project by Leon Battista Alberti did not follow through, until its final disconsecration.
The temple was closed to worship in 1579 by order of Duke Guglielmo Gonzaga, subsequently it was disconsecrated and became first a warehouse and then, once uncovered, a private circular courtyard on the border of the populous neighborhood of the Mantuan Jewish ghetto.
Rediscovered in 1906, it is a national monument.
In 1908, the building was expropriated and prepared for demolition. During the works, the Rotunda “emerged” almost entirely: the church was freed from the superstructure and buildings that completely obscured its view.
After the reconstruction of the dome (inspired by that of the rotunda of San Tomè in Almenno San Bartolomeo), in 1911, it was reconsecrated and re-opened for worship in 1926 and handed over to the Dominican Fraternity that took care of the restoration, its preservation and its opening to the public.
The staircase leading to the church was built in March 1939 and inaugurated on April 21, 1940, undergoing renovations in the following decades, such as adapting to current safety standards.
