Atri Cathedral ( it, Basilica concattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta; Duomo di Atri) is a Romanesque

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

dedicated to the

Assumption of the Virgin Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution ''Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows: We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by Go ...

in the town of

Atri Atri ( sa, अत्रि) or Attri is a Vedic sage, who is credited with composing numerous hymns to Agni, Indra, and other Vedic deities of Hinduism. Atri is one of the Saptarishi (seven great Vedic sages) in the Hindu tradition, and the on ...

Province of Teramo The Province of Teramo ( it, provincia di Teramo; Abruzzese: ') is a province in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Teramo. The province has an area of , a population of 313,029 (2012), and is subdivided into 47 comunes ( i ...

, region of Abruzzo, Italy. It was formerly, from 1251, the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Atri (later Penni-Atri) and has been since 1986 a co-cathedral of the Diocese of Teramo-Atri. It was declared a

minor basilica In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...

in 1964.

History and description

The present church, consecrated in 1223, was built over an earlier one. Further reconstructions occurred during the following two centuries. The sober Istrian white stone façade has a large portal by Maestro Rainaldo in Gothic style, and a large rose window with a niche with a figure of the Virgin and child. The south wall has three portals: that on the left dating from 1305 was the one completed by Rainaldo; the central one dated 1288 with sculptures of lions and symbols of the

Angevin Angevin or House of Anjou may refer to: *County of Anjou or Duchy of Anjou, a historical county, and later Duchy, in France **Angevin (language), the traditional langue d'oïl spoken in Anjou **Counts and Dukes of Anjou * House of Ingelger, a Frank ...

dynasty is by Raimondo di Poggio; and that to the right, dated 1302, is also by him. The first one is opened every year on August, 15th, the day on which the

Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution '' Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows: We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by ...

is celebrated. This privilege was granted to the Atri Cathedral by Pope Celestine V, who was born in the Abruzzo region and whose mother was from Atri. The church includes on its left a campanile or bell tower 56 metres high (184 ft) high, which was completed by Antonio da Lodi in the 15th century. The tower is surmounted by a pyramidal roof. The choir contains a fresco cycle by the 15th-century Abruzzi painter

Andrea de Litio Andrea de Litio (active 1442–1473) was an Italian painter. His city of birth is uncertain; one possibility is Lecce nei Marsi in the Province of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo. He was active mainly in the Abruzzo. Documents from 1442 have him worki ...

(or Delitio). The cycle was meant to illustrate the life of Jesus to the less literate; in fact, the descriptive writings on it are not in standard Latin but in Vulgar Latin (the language used by the folk, which then developed into present-day Italian). The characters are often depicted in very intimate, simple surroundings and with details that accentuate the informality of the situations (e.g. domestic animals). Moreover, the clothing are contemporary to the time in which the fresco cycle was painted, therefore not historically accurate. All these details were designed to allow the viewer to identify with the scenes and feel the characters as more familiar. The cathedral also houses a large organ. The diocesan museum is located adjacent to the cathedral. The crypt was originally a large Roman cistern; another forms the foundation of the ducal palace; and in the eastern portion of the town there is a complicated system of underground passages for collecting and storing water. The adjacent cloister has two storeys.Tourism Teramo
entry on Cathedral.

References

{{Coord, 42.580276, N, 13.978737, E, display=title 13th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Churches in the province of Teramo Cathedrals in Abruzzo Roman Catholic cathedrals in Italy Romanesque architecture in Abruzzo Atri, Abruzzo