Corpus Domini is one of the most important churches in Bologna. It was built between 1477 and 1480 by Nicolò Marchionne from Florence and Francesco Fucci from Doccia. The building is also known as Chiesa della Santa (the Church of the Saint) because it still preserves the body of Santa Caterina de' Vigri. In 1456 Santa Caterina founded the first convent for the Poor Clares where she lived until her death. Since then, that is for more than 500 years, her body has been kept incorrupted in her chapel.

The church has a beautiful Renaissance facade, the only element of the original building, whose unrefined part is  enriched with elegant terracotta reliefs ascribed to Sperandio from Mantova.

The inside part of the building was totally restored by the architect G. Giacomo Monti in 1687, who decided to enrich it with wonderful paintings by M. Antonio Franceschini, ornaments by Enrico Haffner and stucco reliefs by Giuseppe Mazza: unluckily most of this valuable works of art were bombed and thus partly destroyed during the Second World War.
The church also preserves: the famous painting Transito di S. Giuseppe by Franceschini, some paintings by Lodovico Carracci, the graves of the physician Luigi Galvani and  the well-known 18th century scientist Laura Bassi.

 
Source: Curia Arcivescovile and Le Chiese di Bologna (L'Inchiostroblu)