At the end of the Servants’ district (Contrada dei Servi, today Via Veneto), in the southwestern corner of the square, stands the Chiesa dei Servi (Church of the Servants), built thanks to funding from Camillo Farnetti, a notary of Novellara, and bequest of one hundred gold scudi by Count Alessandro Gonzaga.

Construction began on 8 September 1654 and was completed in 1674, giving the community a single-nave Baroque church with three chapels on each side. On 24 May 1674, it was consecrated and dedicated to Saint Giovanni Battista (Saint John the Baptist) and Saint Filippo Benizzi.

In 1766, Francesco III d’Este, Duke of Modena, suppressed the adjoining convent - now lost - and put the church and its furnishings up for sale. Fortunately, both were acquired by the Confraternita del Carmine (Confraternity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel) of Novellara, for the price of 100 sequins. The statue of the Madonna, previously kept in the Oratory adjacent to the Collegiate Church of Santo Stefano, was then moved to the Chiesa dei Servi. Following the Legislative Decree of April 1808, which ordered the closure of churches in every town except parish ones, the Chiesa dei Servi endured various vicissitudes, eventually becoming a subsidiary of the Collegiate Church.

Over time, the building remained largely intact, although its left chapel underwent several transformations.