The patron of Merano is Saint Nicholas, and the patron's public holiday falls on Whit Monday. The saint's church is the town's main one, the parish church of San Nicolò — Stadtpfarrkirche St. Nikolaus zu Meran — which stands in the middle of the old town, where the arcades end.
It was once dedicated to Saint Nicholas and to Saint Peter of Verona and, lying on the right bank of the Passirio, it belonged to the diocese of Chur until the 17th century. The Gothic choir was consecrated in 1367 and the cross vaults were built between 1450 and 1460 by Stefan Tobler of Burghausen; the bell tower, 83 metres high and one of the most imposing in South Tyrol, took almost three centuries, and the «Italian cap» that closes it dates from 1617, the work of Giovanni Bosacchi from Como.
