Atri Cathedral () is a Romanesque

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

Atri Atri or Attri is a Vedic sage, who is credited with composing numerous shlokas 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 one most mentioned in ...

Province of Teramo The province of Teramo (; Neapolitan language, Abruzzese: ') is a provinces of Italy, 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 ...

, region of

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, ; ; , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; ), historically also known as Abruzzi, is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four ...

, 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 Basilicas are Catholic church buildings that have a designation, conferring special privileges, given by the Pope. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectura ...

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 dynasty is by Raimondo di Poggio; and that to the right, dated 1302, is also by him. The first one is one of the Holy Doors canonically designated by the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

. It is opened every year on August, 15th, the day on which the

Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Catholic Mariology#Dogmatic teachings, 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 w ...

is celebrated. In 1295 there was mention of the Holy Door of Atri, which had been established in that period: it is therefore thought that originally there must have been a small portal which was then replaced with the current one in 1305. We do not know for sure which

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

granted this privilege, perhaps

Celestine V Celestine is a given name and a surname. People Given name * Pope Celestine I (died 432) * Pope Celestine II (died 1144) * Pope Celestine III (c. 1106–1198) * Pope Celestine IV (died 1241) * Pope Celestine V (1215–1296) * Antipop ...

(whose mother was from Atri) or

Boniface VIII Pope Boniface VIII (; born Benedetto Caetani; – 11 October 1303) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 December 1294 until his death in 1303. The Caetani family was of baronial origin with connections to the p ...

(who had already risen to the papal throne in 1295); even today the Holy Door is solemnly opened in the presence of thousands of people on August 14th and closed 8 days later, on August 22nd. 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 (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