The city’s treasures are often rather concealed but nonetheless proudly conserved, and this inevitably instils a feeling of privilege when you actually discover them.

The church of Sant’Antonio Abate is on a street running parallel to Via Festa del Perdono, near the State University. It has a discreet Neoclassical façade designed by the architect Giacomo Tazzini, with Ionic pilasters, four niches with statues, and a fine portal at the centre, surmounted by a tympanum. The current appearance of the church is the work of Richini, carried out in the 17th century.
The construction of the church was requested by the Teatine fathers in 1582 on the remains of an earlier, 15th century church that had belonged to the Antonian monks. All that was preserved of the first church was the fine brick tower, considered a masterpiece of early brick Lombard architecture.
The interior of the church takes the form of a single vaulted nave, with a great deal of stucco-work, marble and gilding. There are some important frescoes, including work by Giovanni Carloni, known as Genovese, and his brother Giovan Battista Carloni. Other paintings are a cycle dedicated to the Virgin Mary by Giulio Cesare Procaccini (1574-1625), and a “Nativity” and an “Adoration of the Magi” by Pier Francesco Mazzucchelli, known as Morazzone (1573-1626) as well as the frescoes by Guglielmo Caccia, known as “Il Moncalvo” (1569 – 1625), that depict scenes from the Old Testament. Behind the main altar there is a fine series of choir-stalls designed by Richini.