Santa Maria della Croce is a Roman Catholic sanctuary and minor basilica outside the medieval walls of Crema, in Lombardy. It was built after a legend of 1490, in which Caterina degli Uberti, fatally wounded by her husband, prayed to the Virgin Mary and was carried to a nearby farmhouse. Bramante made a model, and his assistant Giovanni Battagio carried out the work.
The sanctuary follows a Greek cross plan in Lombard Renaissance style. The central structure is circular outside and octagonal inside, and it rises about 115 feet (35 meters). Four smaller units about 49 feet (15 meters) high surround it, and the exterior is undecorated brick. The unfinished building was damaged in the siege of Crema in 1514.
Dome frescoes by Giacomo Parravicino date from 1702. The Discalced Carmelites took over the site in 1694, and Pope Pius XII named it a minor basilica in 1958.
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