The Cathedrals of the art cities

The cathedral is along Via Rossini. The first early Christian cathedral of Pesaro dated back to the 5th century and it was within the perimeter of the ancient Roman city. 

In 1503 the bell tower was destroyed by Cesare Borgia, so the presbytery and the apse were rebuilt and widened.

A further radical restructuring process was started in 1865 by the architect Giambattista Carducci, although the 13^th century Romanesque façade was left.

On that occasion a large mosaic (ca 900 sq. m.) was sensationally discovered. It covers the entire cathedral floor. But for the parts changed during the Middle Ages, it dates back to the 6^th century B. C. and it’s visible.

Thus, more than a metre below the surface, a basilica came to light, identified by critics as the early Christian cathedral. 

The 14^th century portal in white stone is flanked by two lions, dating back to the 12- 13^th centuries, probably a coat- of-arms of the Malatesta family. The church is in the shape of a Latin cross, with a nave, two aisles, seven altars and three chapels.

In the right aisle you can see the chapel of St. Terentius, where the relics of the patron- saints of Pesaro and a 14^th century fresco of the Madonna of the People can be found. The Chapel of the Very Holy Sacrament is in the left aisle and it houses marble sculptures of the old baptistery. The two chapels were re-made between the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

Above the entrance a painting by Marco Benefial represents the Assumption among saints, whereas in the left transept a painting by Giovanni Giacomo Pandolfi represents the Crucifixion with Saints.

The Cathedral, dedicated to the Assumption, stands on Via Arco di Augusto. It was rebuilt in 1140 after a fire had destroyed the earlier building. Its brick and sandstone façade is typically Romanesque, with a richly decorated ribbed portal, where at the centre you can see a Gothic portal which was clearly influenced by Cosmatesque inlaid marble decorations that brighten the pillars and the ribs of the portal and that alternate the smooth little columns in white and pink marble. They strongly contrast with the strongly emphasized images of the divine lamb carved at the centre of the lintel.

The church bell tower to the left was built to replace the original cylindrical bell tower which was destroyed during the Second World War. In the interior, divided into a nave, two aisles and side chapels which were added from the 14^th century onwards, there are several noteworthy features. These include a pulpit made from sculptures from the earlier Church, with Romanesque reliefs representing episodes from Christ's childhood, and the seventeenth century Nolfi Chapel on which the architect Girolamo Rainaldi collaborated. This was frescoed with "The Story of the Virgin" by Domenico Zampieri (Domenichino) between 1618 and 1619. In the Chapel of the Patron Saints you can see paintings of "The Virgin with Saints Urses and Eusebius" by Ludovico Carracci while on the main altar is "The Virgin in Glory" by Sebastiano Ceccarini.

The Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle was built at the end of the 18th century. The façade was added in the second half of the 19^th century, due to the subsides of the pope who was born in Senigallia, Pious IX.

It underwent various renovation works due to the earthquakes of this area.

Inside the plan of the cathedral is in the shape of a Latin cross, with a nave and two aisles divided by pillars and a dome- shaped vault. There are very interesting works inside the church, such as the Mannerist works by Federico Barocci ( Rest on the flight into Egypt), by Ercole Ramazzani (Madonna of Hope), Domenico Corvi ( Saint Paulino and Holy Mary Magdalene) and Alessandro Tiarini (Assumption).

Modern painting by Silvio Galimberti represent the delivery of the keys of Heaven from Jesus to Peter and the sanctification of Peter to universal shepherd of the Church. They are at the sides of the painting above the main altar, where the protectors of Senigallia and its diocese ( Saints Peter and Paolino) were painted by Tiarini from Bologna.

In the sacristy the 6^th century sarcophagus of St. Gaudentius with the symbols of the four evangelists was made by an unknown artist.

The Chapel of the Madonna della Speranza is of particular interest. It was designed by Giuseppe Ferroni, its eight Corinthian columns are made of jasper and yellow marble and inside you can admire a 16^th century painting by Ettore Ramazzani representing the Madonna of Hope.

Close to it, a new chapel is dedicated to the cult of St. Maria Goretti, who is represented in a wooden sculture in the act of forgiving her perpetrator.

Noteworthy is the richly adorned Baptistery, where Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti, later Pope Pius IX and sanctified by Pope John Paul II, was baptized here in 1792. The imposing bronze statue placed along the main nave is also dedicated to him.

The Cathedral of St. Cyriacus represents the emblem of Ancona, both for its geographical position as well as for its historical and religious meaning.

The hilltop on which it rests was once called the Cumero promontory in antiquity, a name formed by the Greek words Kuma and Oro , which together mean " mountain facing the sea ". It was subsequently called Colle di San Ciriaco or Colle Guasco, as colonel Cesare Guasco ordered important fortifications to be built towards the sea.

The Church was built on the remains of an ancient temple dedicated to Venus Euplea, the goddess of good navigation. White Conero stone and Veronese red marble were used for its construction.

This temple was destroyed in 558 by an earthquake that also razed to the ground the small town of Numana. The cross-shaped outline of the building, featuring a central plan, is dominated by a soaring twelve-sided cupola with its Gothic vaults. Covered with sheets of metal, it is considered by experts to be one of the oldest and most perfect cupolas in Italy. The interior of the church, along with the portal – a 13^th century Gothic masterpiece - and the nearby Diocesan Museum are all worth a visit.

Under the glass slabs you can still see the remains of the pagan temple and of the early- Christian basilica with fragments of mosaics. In the left aisle you can find the monument to the Blessed Ghinelli, a work by Giovanni Dalmata da Traù (1509). In the right aisle in the chapel of the Madonna there’s a splendid altar of the Madonna by Luigi Vanvitelli (1738). In the right wing, in the chapel of the Holy Cross, magnificent Medieval  tiles with symbolic meanings.

Under the Madonna chapel is a crypt with the remains of the patron saints of the Diocese: St. Ciriacus, Saints Liberius and Marcellinus.

The Cathedral was built between the XIII and XIV centuries by Giorgio di Como, probably on the foundations  of a Roman temple in the Roman forum area. It’s dedicated to Saint Settimio, the first bishop of the church in Jesi.

It was demolished by the bishop Fonseca and the architect Filippo Barigioni from Rome projected the new one which was rebuilt between 1732 and 1741. The image of the old Medieval cathedral  can be seen in the standard painted by Luigi Mancini and which is housed at the Diocesan Museum. In fact little is left of the old building: only two lion- shaped fonts inside the modern cathedral which were once in the portal of the church. The eighteenth-century bell tower was made by Francesco Matelicani, who was born in Jesi and who drew inspiration from the belfry built in Loreto by Luigi Vanivitelli. The façade was projected by the Roman Gaetano Morichini and it was added in 1889. Luigi Mancini partially painted the inner vault with an episode of the life of Saint Settimio. The portal was made by the Marche sculptor Paolo Anniballi on occasion of the Jubilee Year 2000.  

The cathedral has a single nave and a hemispherical dome, as typical of the widespread taste for Neoclassicism of that time.  Many side chapel were opened during the 18^th century and they were adorned with paintings, decorations and liturgical items requested by the noble families from Jesi. The wooden choir was designed by Domenico Valeri from Jesi. In the basin over the apse Biagio Biagetti from Recanati painted in 1939 the majestic image of Christ Lord of the World surrounded by Saints Florian and Romuald  to the right and Settimio and Francis from Assisi to the left.

The Cathedral of St. Venancio is one of the most important and prestigious churches of the Marche, both for its fine architectural structures and for its works of art.

It was first built in the Upper Medieval times. In 1253 the bishop from Camerino moved the baptismal font from Attigium to the church of St. Venancio, which therefore became more important in the surrounding area.  

The church was widened during the 13^th century and it got Gothic style shapes that still survive in the polygonal-shaped apse, in the cloister and in the chapel of St. Lawrence, where important frescos by the 14^th century painter Allegretto Nuzi are preserved:  the life of Saint Lawrence and the fresco representing the Madonna with Child and Saint Venance.

In the Chapel of the Holy Cross you can admire a Crucifixion by Allegretto Nuzi, as well as some frescoes by Giovanni di Corraduccio from Foligno and works by the Master of San Verecondo.

The church was rebuilt during the 17^th century by the architect Muzio Oddi and it was adorned by the stuccoes by Francesco Selva. In 1728 it became a cathedral, as Fabriano became the seat of a diocese, and finally, in 1963, it became a basilica.

In the cathedral there are extraordinary works of art in Baroque and Mannerist style, such as the canvases by Gregorio Preti, Giuseppe Puglie, Salvatore Rosa, Giovan Francesco Guerrieri.  Particularly valuable are the Passion and Crucifixion scenes, painted  around 1620 by the well known painter Orazio Gentileschi, one of Caravaggio's followers.

The Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Camerino - San Severino Marche, dedicated to the Santissima Annunziata (Most Holy Annunciation), is the result of three successive building projects. Of the first 7th century church a few fragments of the crypt are still preserved. The second church in Romanesque-Gothic style was probably built at the end of the 12th century, although it was destroyed by a powerful earthquake in 1799. Lastly, today’s neoclassical Cathedral was rebuilt at the beginning of the 19th century by the architects Andrea Vici, a pupil of Vanvitelli, and Clemente Folchi. The imposing interior with a nave and two aisles houses valuable works of art, such as a 13th century polychrome wooden crucifix and interesting  17th century Mannerist paintings. Noteworthy is the group of the Madonna della Misericordia (Madonna of Mercy), a precious 15th century wooden artefact that is known to the people of Camerino as the Madonna bella (Beautiful Madonna). Carlo Crivelli painted a great polyptych for the cathedral which has been disassembled  and therefore the altarpiece is at present in Milan ( Brera picture gallery) and other parts in Europe and in the U.S.A.  The crypt houses another treasure of the Cathedral: the marble sarcophagus of Saint Ansovinus, Bishop of Camerino in the middle of the 9th century, who is venerated as co-patron saint along with Saint Venantius. It is a monumental Gothic tomb and is a fine example of 14th century Marche stone sculpture.

Due to the earthquake occurred in 2016, the cathedral is temporarily closed. For further information please write to: numeroverde.turismo@regione.marche.it

On one side of central Piazza Arringo is the "Cathedral of Saint Emidius".

The cathedral underwent many adaptations between the eighth and sixteenth centuries. The first building actually dates back to the fourth or fifth century, according to some on the site of the Roman forum or on an building existing in Roman times, perhaps dedicated to Hercules or to the Muses.

Some archaeological finds unearthed between 1882 and 1883 show that the cathedral was built using the remains of the civil basilica of the Roman Forum, still visible in the older parts of the building as the transept, the part of the apses and the dome from the end of the eighth or early ninth century.

The facade, built between 1529 and 1539 , was designed by Cola dell'Amatrice, has only one architectural style and a central main entrance to the cathedral.

Two Romanesque travertine towers rise at the edge of the facade while the Renaissance Door of the Muse is situated at the side; it’s named from an epigraph on its outside wall.

In the interior there are extraordinary works of art; it’s in the shape of a Latin cross and in Romanesque- Gothic style; it’s divided into a nave and two aisles and in the crypt below St. Emidio’s corpse is kept. In the Sacrament Chapel, above the altar  where a valuable sixteenth-century tabernacle in gilded wood and a painting of uncertain origin are placed, there’s the splendid polyptych by Carlo Crivelli, one of the few works of art that weren’t pillaged by Napoleon’s troops and that weren’t sold during the nineteenth-century. 

It’s one of the very few works of art by the Venetian master which has preserved intact all of its parts, including the complex frame. Crivelli masterfully represents the Virgin with saints and apostles. The Virgin sits on a throne decorated with precious marble and with the characteristic fruit festoon having rich symbolic meanings. With great virtuosity he also paints the cope and the crosier of Saint Emidius, the patron saint of Ascoli Piceno to whom the cathedral is also dedicated.

The cathedral will be opened again at Easter 2017 and in the following week. Then it will be probably open every day.

The skyline of Fermo is dominated by the profile of the Cathedral, which is right on the top of the hill, surrounded by a garden.  having the most magnificent view of the rolling landscape and the Adriatic Sea.

The cathedral is in a extremely interesting archeological site, as it was built on a 6th century Roman temple which is partly still visible in the interesting underground area.

The old Cathedral was destroyed in 1776 by Frederick I (Barbarossa) and was later rebuilt in 1227 by Giorgio di Como for Frederick II. The imposing Romanesque and Gothic façade in Istrian stone and the entrance hall where 14^th century frescoes and the 14^th century funerary monument of Giovanni Visconti d’Oleggio can be seen.

The archbishop Andrea Minucci ordered the demolition of the cathedral in 1781, although the people from Fermo opposed him. The rebuilding was projected by Cosimo Morelli and lasted about eight years. The architect preferred by the popes Clement XIV and Pius Vi  chose a neoclassical style that made the interior of the church spacious and solemn. However the lower part of the bell tower has been preserved.

The bronze doors, placed in 1980, are a creation of Aldo Sergiacomi from Offida.

Inside the cathedral there are valuable works of art, such as an early Christian sarcophagus (III- IV century) which is placed in the 13^th century crypt, a Byzantine image given as a gift by Giacomo della Marca, an early Christian mosaic with peacocks before the presbyterium and tombs of important people.

The façade has a wonderful rose window carved in 1348 by Giacomo Palmieri and noteworthy is the portal where, in a little  niche, is placed a bronze statue of the Assumption.

The modern cathedral of Saint Julian was designed by the architect Cosimo Morelli and it was built between 1459 and 1464. In the incomplete façade there are the remains of a belfry in late Gothic style, dating back to 1478 and attributed to Marino di Marco Cedrino.

The neoclassical interior is vast and imposing. Twin ionic columns divide the nave and the aisles and the dome- shaped cross vault, conveying a sense of grandeur.

The altar- piece at the main altar shows Saint Julian interceding to the Virgin Mary and Christ Child because of the threat of pestilence, a work by Cristoforo Unterbenger (1786). In the choir there are two interesting works by Filippo Bellini, a pupil of Barocci (The last supper and The Supper at Emmaus). Noteworthy is the tempera painted by Silvio Galimberti (1938) in the spandrels in the upper apse (theological virtues and Religion).

In the side chapels there are valuable works of art. At the first altar to the right “Delivery of the Bolognese school keys”; at the second chapel to the right “Madonna between Saints Sebastian and Andrea” painted in 1600 by Andrea Boscoli, one of the best Florentine Mannerists.

At the right transept there’s a mosaic with St. Michael the Archangel made in 1628 by Giambattista Calandra for the Vatican basilica.

Above the third altar to the right Saint carl Borromeo, a canvas by Vincenzo Martini from Macerata (1790). At the bottom of the left transept there’s the Chapel of the Holy Sacrament,a skilful 18^th century reproduction of the dome frescoed by Pavisa (1932). In the first chapel to the left there a baptismal font, a part of a great 17^th century wooden construction which reproduces a project by Michelangelo for the Vatican basilica.

Remarkable religious works of art can be found also in the sacristy, among which the 1369 triptych Madonna with Child and Saints Anthony and Julian by Allegretto Nuzi, a painting by Vincenzo Pagani, a Piety by Filippo Bellini, the Miracle of Saint Gregorius, a sketch by Andrea Sacchi for the altar piece in the Gregorian Chapel of Saint Peter in the Vatican.

The very good organ placed to the right of the choir is one of the biggest organs ever made by Gaetano Callido in 1790.

A wide staircase leads to the lower church where three altars can be found: the major one is dedicated to the Holy Sacrament, the other two ones to the Madonna of Loreto and to Mary the Magdalene.

Besides, the cathedral of Macerata houses in a precious silver urn an arm of Saint Julian, protector of the town.