Church of Ognissanti, Mantua

Some historians say that Ognissanti – id est All Saints – church was built on the orders of Matilda of Tuscany in 1080, and that the countess later gave it to San Benedetto in Polirone monastery. According to them, a 1650 document testifies to it, by listing the church and its cloister among the monastery properties. Other historians believe instead that the donation was a gift from Pope Adrian IV in 1159. Anyway, the Benedictines ran Ognissanti church from XII century to 1797, when Napoleon suppressed all of monasteries.

The Romanesque bell tower is oddly away from present church, but it was surely connected to the previous Romanesque one. You can see also other Romanesque remains, such as the relics of an apse in the inner courtyard, and two service corridors beside the Chapel of Dead – according to Mantuan historian P. Piva one of them was a part of the previous church nave. So, it should have been a Romanesque layout church with one nave and three apses, surrounded by houses, shops and a hospice. A situation very similar to Santa Maria church in San Benedetto in Polirone monastery, which also hosted a Benedictine hospital and hospice.