250px, Façade of the Cathedral 250px, Side view Carrara Cathedral ( Italian: ''Duomo di Carrara'') is a Roman Catholic church, dedicated to Saint Andrew, in the town of Carrara, located in central Italy. Most of the exterior, and much of the interior, is covered in the local Carrara marble.

History

An older church, ''Ecclesia Sancti Andree de Carraria'', is mentioned as existing on this site as early as 1035, but of it, only a bas-relief remains. The first written documentation of the Carrara Cathedral dates to 1099. The church was first enlarged in 1099, when it received the status of '' pieve''. It is the first Medieval church to be constructed entirely of marble. The marble used for its construction is Apuan marble, more commonly known as Carrara marble. The lower section of the façade and the side area near the St. John Portal are characterized by a bichrome decoration with geometrical marble tarsias. This part of the building can be dated to the early 12th century by the influences of the Pisan Gothic style on the capitals and the

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can ...

as well as the similarities in the alternating black and white marble patterning with the Tuscan churches of

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

and Lucca. This style was also widespread in Liguria at the time, as shown by the similarity of the cathedral's portal with that of Genoa Cathedral, finished before 1142. The sculptors of the main portal and of the capitals of the first three spans in the interior belonged to the school of Maestor

Wiligelmo Wiligelmo (also known as Wiligelmus, Gulielmo da Modena, Cousin of Elmo or Guglielmo da Modena) was an Italian sculptor active between c. 1099 and 1120. He was the first sculptor in Italy to produce large-format sculptures and sign his work. Wil ...

. In 1151 the church came under the jurisdiction of the Lateranense Canons of San Frediano of Lucca and the second building phase began, lasting until about 1235 when the apse is known to have existed. The presbytery was added around this time as well, which lengthened the building from its original floor plan. There are similarities of style to contemporary Lucchese architecture. The lateral walls continued without the bichrome decoration. In the interior, the capitals are in the Corinthian and Composite orders, and the mullioned windows have leaves, human and animal motifs, which are perhaps influenced by ancient Roman structures still existing in Lucca at the time.

Overview

The church has a rectangular plan, consisting of three naves, a presbytery and a semi-circular apse. Carrara-cattedrale-navata centrale2

The façade is made up of a combination of Romanesque and Gothic styles. The façade, which was finished in the second half of the 14th century, is made up of a bichrome pattern of light and dark marble stone. The bottom part of the façade and the side elevations are Romanesque, while the portal, crowned by sculptures inspired by medieval bestiaries, and surmounted by a Gothic

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' w ...

with twisted columns, each different from the others, is consistent with the Gothic style of architecture in the 14th century. The

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

, standing at , was also built in the 14th century. The interior of the cathedral consists of a taller nave with exposed wooden trusses, and two smaller cross-vaulted aisles. It houses the

sarcophagus A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...

of St. Ceccardus, patron saint of Carrara, a 14th-century "Annunciation" (example of Pisan sculpture), and a 14th-century wooden crucifix by Angelo Puccinelli. There is also a white marble pulpit in the presbytery that was installed in the 16th century. Outside the church is the "Statua del Gigante" (''Statue of the Giant''), by Baccio Bandinelli.

Notes

{{Coord, 44.0800, 10.0994, type:landmark_region:IT, display=title 11th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy 12th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy 13th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy 14th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Churches in the province of Massa and Carrara Cathedral Romanesque architecture in Tuscany Gothic architecture in Tuscany Churches completed in 1235