Chiesa dei Servi
Down the street “contrada dei Servi” (now called “Vittorio Veneto”), in the south-west corner of the square, stands the “Chiesa dei Servi”, a religious building constructed with the financial support of notary Camillo Farnetti, from Novellara, and the legacy of 100 “scudi d’oro” (a type of coin used in the Italian peninsula) given by Count Alessandro Gonzaga.
The construction of the church - in Baroque style, with a single nave and three lateral chapels per side - began on September 8, 1654 and continued until 1674. On May, 24 of the same year, it was consecrated and dedicated to St. John the Baptist and St. Philip Benizzi. In 1766, the Duke of Modena Francesco III d’Este suppressed the convent which had been built next to the church and decided to sell both the church and its furnishings. Fortunately, the religious building was bought - for 100 Zecchini (gold coin) - by the "Confraternita del Carmine", from Novellara, who decided to move there the statue of the Madonna, which until then had been kept in the Oratory next to the Collegiate Church. Since in April 1808, a Government Decree ordered the closure of all churches of the towns - except for the Parish ones - it ended up being subsidiary to the Collegiate Church of St. Stefano. Over time, it has never been modified, except for the first chapel on the left, which was transformed several times.
