Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, Lord of Rimini, was excommunicated by the Pope, burned in effigy in Rome, and accused of murder, incest, and sacrilege. His response: he hired Leon Battista Alberti (the greatest architectural theorist of the Renaissance) to wrap a Gothic church in a Classical Roman facade and rededicate it — not to God, but to himself, his mistress Isotta degli Atti, the Muses, and Greek philosophy. Inside: chapels dedicated to the planets (not saints), the Malatesta family crest everywhere, a fresco by Piero della Francesca (Sigismondo kneeling before his patron saint — the warlord looking pious), and a Giotto crucifix. Free entry. The most intellectually audacious church in Italy.
Alberti's facade (1450): A Roman triumphal arch applied to a church — the first time Renaissance architecture quoted ancient Rome so directly. Never finished (war bankrupted Sigismondo before the dome was built). Piero della Francesca — Sigismondo Malatesta Before St. Sigismund (1451): The warlord kneels in profile, greyhounds at his feet, Castel Sismondo in the background. Giotto Crucifix (1312): Monumental painted crucifix hanging in the apse. The elephant tombs: Sigismondo's two elephants (diplomatic gifts) are buried in the church walls — stone sarcophagi on the exterior.
Practical: Via IV Novembre 35, Rimini. FREE. Open daily 8:30am-12:30pm, 3:30-7pm. Duration: 20-30 min. Rimini guide →