The crowning of an icon from the ransack of Constantinople

The Basilica Santa Maria delle Grazie protects a Cretan icon of the Madonna of the Graces. The image was transferred from the ransack of Constantinople and ultimately crowned by Pope Pius VII on 10 December 1822. Venice gave the icon to the town of Este, where it remains housed within the shrine.

A smaller Dominican church stood at this site in 1478, patronized by the last will of Prince Taddeo d'Este. The current Baroque-style structure began rising in 1717. During the demolition of the old church in 1736, a fresco depicting the Pietà was discovered in the rubble, which became a source of veneration.

By 1776, the church was reconsecrated as a parish church for the frazione of San Martino. Construction continued until 1889, when the octagonal dome, designed by architect Giuseppe Riccoboni, was completed. The interior features a finely carved wooden choir stall and 15 stone sculptures by Pietro Zandomeneghi and Valentino Panciera, called Besarel. These statues represent prophets and allegories such as Castitas and Humilitas.

In the center of the nave is a late-19th century fresco depicting the Coronation of the Virgin by Giovanni Battista Baldi. Baldi also painted the four evangelists in the dome's spandrels and medallions depicting the doctors of the church. The church also houses an altarpiece by Alberto Calvelli and a new main altar inaugurated by Girolamo Bortignon in 1950, though the sacristy was devastated by a fire in 1965.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons