Alife Cathedral (, ''Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta'') is a

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 ...

in Alife in the

province of Caserta The province of Caserta () is a province in the Campania region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Caserta, situated about by road north of Naples. The province has an area of , and a population of 907,442. The Palace of Caserta is located nea ...

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...

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. Dedicated to the

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, it is the seat of the Bishop of Alife-Caiazzo. Alife Cathedral, first built in 1132, was formerly dedicated to

Pope Sixtus I Pope Sixtus I (Greek: Σίξτος), also spelled Xystus, a Roman of Greek descent, was the bishop of Rome The pope is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, R ...

, later Saint Sixtus, the patron saint of the city. After the severe earthquakes of

1456 Year 1456 ( MCDLVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events January–December * May 18 – Second Battle of Oronichea (1456): Ottoman Forces of 15,000 are sent to capture Albania, but are met and swi ...

and

1688 Events January–March * January 2 – Fleeing from the Spanish Navy, French pirate Raveneau de Lussan and his 70 men arrive on the west coast of Nicaragua, sink their boats, and make a difficult 10 day march to the city of Ocota ...

, the cathedral was largely rebuilt in

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style, and reopened in 1692. The interior has however maintained noteworthy elements of the Lombard-Norman building, including two arcades decorated with sculptures of animals (including the elephant, heraldic symbol of the city established by the d'Aquino family, who ruled Alife from 1121 to 1269) and saints. Also interesting is the Romanesque crypt, which houses the relics of Saint Sixtus, brought here by Ranulf, Count of Alife: it has a rectangular plan and columns from the ancient Roman theatre. Some of the capitals are ancient, while others are mediaeval copies of the Roman originals.

Sources and external links

Catholic Encyclopedia: Alife

Website of Alife Cathedral

References

* Francesco S. Finelli, 1928: ''Città di Alife e Diocesi''. Scafati * Angelo Gambella, 2007: ''Medioevo Alifano''. Rome: Drengo * Gianfrancesco Trutta, 1776: ''Dissertazioni istoriche delle antichità alifane''. Naples Roman Catholic cathedrals in Italy Cathedrals in Campania Churches in the province of Caserta 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches completed in 1692 1132 establishments in Europe 12th-century establishments in Italy {{italy-RC-cathedral-stub