Cingoli Cathedral () is a

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

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 on 1 November 1950 in his apostolic constitution as follows: It leaves open the question of whether Mary died or whether she was ra ...

in the town of

Cingoli Cingoli is a town and ''comune'' of the Marches, Italy, in the province of Macerata, about by road from the town of Macerata. It is the birthplace of Pope Pius VIII. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of I ...

, province of Macerata, region of

Marche Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...

, Italy. It stands on the central piazza opposite the town hall. Formerly the seat of the bishops of Cingoli from 1725, it has been since 1986 one of the co-cathedrals in the Diocese of Macerata-Tolentino-Recanati-Cingoli-Treia.

History

The present cathedral stands on the site of a previous church dedicated to the Holy Saviour (''Santissimo Salvatore'') which was demolished at the beginning of the 17th century to make way for a new building (the west front of the earlier church has been preserved in the north side of the present one). The new church was designed by the architect Ascanio Passeri; work began in 1615 and concluded in 1654. It was elevated to the status of a cathedral in 1725 by

Pope Benedict XIII Pope Benedict XIII (; ; 2 February 1649 – 21 February 1730), born Pietro Francesco (or Pierfrancesco) Orsini and later called Vincenzo Maria Orsini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 May 1724 to his death in ...

and the dedication was changed at the same time to the Assumption of Mary (''Santa Maria Assunta''). The layout has a single nave with a triple apse, while the façade has a base of white stone with the remainder in brick. The exterior niches are vacant. The half-dome of the apse interior was frescoed in 1939 by Donatello Stefanucci. The frescoes depict the Assumption of Mary with Saints Esuperanzio and Sperandia, patron saints of the town, with a depiction of the twelve sacraments, and the confraternity of the cathedral, wearing white and red habits. Another fresco depicts Jesus and the

Sermon on the Mount The Sermon on the Mount ( anglicized from the Matthean Vulgate Latin section title: ) is a collection of sayings spoken by Jesus of Nazareth found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5, 6, and 7). that emphasizes his moral teachings. It is th ...

. The church has canvases depicting ''Sant’Albertino'' (16th-century) by an anonymous painter and the ''Death of St Cajetan'' by Pier Simone Fanelli, besides a 19th-century

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty grave, tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere or have been lost. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although t ...

made with

scagliola Scagliola (from the Italian language, Italian ''scaglia'', meaning "chips") is a type of fine plaster used in architecture and sculpture. The same term identifies the technique for producing columns, sculptures, and other architectural elements t ...

by Ampelio Mazzanti. There is also a monument by the sculptor

Pietro Tenerani Pietro Tenerani (11 November 1789 – 16 December 1869) was an Italian sculptor of the Neoclassic style. Biography Early career Pietro Tenerani was born in Torano, near Carrara. He initially trained with his maternal uncle, the sculptor P ...

Pope Pius VIII Pope Pius VIII (; born Francesco Saverio Maria Felice Castiglioni; 20 November 1761 – 30 November 1830) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 31 March 1829 to his death in November 1830. Pius VIII's pontificate wa ...

,Tourism office of Macerata
, by Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio Provincia di Macerata, entry on the church. who was a benefactor of the cathedral. The remains of saint Bonfilius, an 11th-century monk and bishop of Foligno, have been interred in the cathedral in 1726 under the pontificate of Benedict XIII.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cingoli Baroque architecture in Marche 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches completed in 1654 Cathedrals in the Marche Roman Catholic churches in Cingoli