Carpi Cathedral () 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 ...

Carpi Carpi may refer to: Places * Carpi, Emilia-Romagna, a large town in the province of Modena, central Italy ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Carpi * Carpi (Africa), a city and former diocese of Roman Africa, now a Roman Catholic titular see People ...

Emilia-Romagna Emilia-Romagna (, , both , ; or ; ) is an Regions of Italy, administrative region of northern Italy, comprising the historical regions of Emilia (region), Emilia and Romagna. Its capital is Bologna. It has an area of , and a population of 4.4 m ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, 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 ...

. It is the episcopal seat of the

Diocese of Carpi In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

. It stands on the site of a mediaeval

pieve In Italy in the Middle Ages, a ''pieve'' (, ; ; : ''pievi'') was a rural church with a baptistery, upon which other churches without baptisteries depended. ''Pieve'' is also an Italian and Corsican term signifying the medieval ecclesiastical/a ...

dedicated to Mary.

History

The original church was built by King

Aistulf Aistulf (also Ahistulf, Haistulfus, Astolf etc.; , ; died December 756) was the Duke of Friuli from 744, King of the Lombards from 749, and Duke of Spoleto from 751. His reign was characterized by ruthless and ambitious efforts to conquer Roman ...

in 756. Construction on the present building began around 1514, predating the establishment of the diocese here in 1779 by over 250 years. The church was designed by

Baldassare Peruzzi Baldassare Tommaso Peruzzi (7 March 1481 – 6 January 1536) was an Italian architect and painter, born in a small town near Siena (in Ancaiano, ''frazione'' of Sovicille) and died in Rome. He worked for many years with Bramante, Raphael, and l ...

under his patron

Alberto III Pio, Prince of Carpi Alberto III Pío, Prince of Carpi (23 July 1475 – 1531), was an Italian Renaissance prince. He cultivated interest in humanism and was an intimate of the Medici popes. He was born in Carpi, the eldest child of Caterina Pico and . His fathe ...

."A new lighting system for Carpi Cathedral", iGuzzini North America
/ref> With the creation of the diocese in 1779, the cathedral was assigned a Chapter, which was to consist of four dignities (the Archpriest, the Archdeacon, the Provost, and the Dean) and seventeen Canons. The first bishop was Francesco Benincasa. The cathedral has a Baroque facade and a Latin cross floorplan. It was granted the status of 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 1979, on the occasion of the bicentenary of the establishment of the diocese. The building was seriously damaged during the earthquakes that struck in 2012. After restoration work it was reopened for worship on 25 March 2017 with a solemn ceremony led by Cardinal

Pietro Parolin Pietro Parolin (, ; born 17 January 1955) is an Catholic Church in Italy, Italian Catholic prelate who has served as the Holy See, Vatican's Cardinal Secretary of State, Secretary of State since 2013, and has served as a member of the Council o ...

."Santa Maria Assunta Cathedral", Cooperativa Muratori e Braccianti di Carpi
/ref> The restoration included in the installation of a new lighting system.

References

External links

{{coord, 44.78496, N, 10.88626, E, display=title Roman Catholic cathedrals in Italy

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 ...

Cathedrals in Emilia-Romagna 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy