Cathedral Of Vercelli
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Vercelli Cathedral (, ''Cattedrale di Sant'Eusebio'') is the principal
church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...
of the city of
Vercelli Vercelli (; ) is a city and ''comune'' of 46,552 inhabitants (January 1, 2017) in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, around 600 BC. ...
in
Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...
,
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 ...
, and the
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 ...
of the
Archdiocese of Vercelli The Archdiocese of Vercelli () is a Latin Metropolitan archdiocese of the Catholic Church in northern Italy, one of the two archdioceses which, together with their suffragan dioceses, form the ecclesiastical region of Piedmont. The archbishop' ...
. It is dedicated to Saint
Eusebius of Vercelli Eusebius of Vercelli (c. 2 March 283 – 1 August 371) was a bishop from Sardinia and is counted a saint. Along with Athanasius, he affirmed the divinity of Jesus against Arianism. Biography Eusebius was born in Sardinia, in 283. After his father' ...
, the first bishop.


History

The present cathedral was built on the site of earlier ones. The construction of the first, in the 4th century, is ascribed to Saint Eusebius himself, who, it is believed, built it over an ancient
necropolis A necropolis (: necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'' (). The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distan ...
containing the remains of Saint Theonestus, to whom Eusebius dedicated it.Catholic Encyclopedia: Vercelli
The relics of Theonestus are still preserved in the present cathedral. After Eusebius's death he was buried there himself, and the dedication changed accordingly. This building was destroyed during the
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...
invasions of the 5th century. Its replacement was a large
basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...
inspired by those of
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
and
Ravenna Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...
. A major refurbishment was carried out in the 9th century. In the 11th century, another major restoration took place, as a consequence of extreme decay and in particular of a serious fire in 997 that threatened the stability of the structure. In the 12th century, the present
campanile 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 to ...
was built, and the main body of the cathedral was restored again: it now had five aisles separated by columns, a
transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...
and an imposing portico. The
apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...
was decorated with
mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...
s, and in the presbytery was an
ambo Ambo may refer to: Places * Ambo, Kiribati * Ambō (also spelled Anbō), Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan * Ambo Province, Huanuco Region, Peru ** Ambo District ** Ambo, Peru, capital of Ambo District * Ambo, Ethiopia, a capital of West Shewa Zon ...
sculpted by
Benedetto Antelami Benedetto Antelami (c. 1150 – c. 1230)"Antelami, Benedetto" in '' The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 441. was an Italian architect and sculptor of the Romanesque school, who ...
. In the second half of the 16th century,
Pellegrino Tibaldi San Sebastiano (Milan) Pellegrino Tibaldi (1527, Valsolda - 27 May 1596, Milan), also known as Pellegrino di Tibaldo de Pellegrini, was an Italian mannerist architect, sculptor, and mural painter. Biography Tibaldi was born in Puria di Valsolda ...
of
Valsolda Valsolda is a ''comune'' (municipality) of about 1,400 inhabitants in the Province of Como in the Italy, Italian region Lombardy on the border with Switzerland. It is located about north of Milan, about north of Como and east of Lugano. Valsold ...
was commissioned by the then bishop, Guido Ferrero, to rebuild the cathedral entirely to replace the medieval building, which the bishop had demolished. Tibaldi was able to erect the choir, the side chapels and the two sacristies before lack of funds brought the work to a halt after eight years. In 1682 a chapel to the south was built for the tomb of Blessed Amadeus IX. Between 1702 and 1717 Stefano Negro built the nave, aisles and transept. The remaining parts of the structure, including the west front, were completed in 1757–63 by
Benedetto Alfieri 180px, Benedetto Alfieri from the treatise of "Leben des Vittorio Alfieri" Benedetto Innocenzo Alfieri (8 June 1699 - 9 December 1767) was an Italian architect, a representative of the late-Baroque or Rococo style. Biography and works Born in R ...
and Luigi Barberis, who towards the end of the 18th century also added a chapel off the northern aisle for the relics of Saint Eusebius, which had been discovered during the reconstruction works of the 16th century. This was rebuilt in the late 19th century by Giuseppe Locarni, and the urn containing the remains is now located beneath the high altar. Giovanni Larghi added a dome in 1857-60. In a chapel off the southern nave are buried not only Blessed Amadeus IX, for whose tomb it was built, but also other members of the former ruling house of
Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...
, including
Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...
,
Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...
,
Yolande of Valois Yolande of Valois (23 September 1434 – 23 August 1478), also called Yolande of France, was Duchess of Savoy by marriage to Duke Amadeus IX of Savoy, and regent of Savoy during the minority of her son Philibert I of Savoy from 1472 until 14 ...
(wife of Blessed Amadeus) and
Victor Amadeus I Victor Amadeus I (; 8 May 1587 – 7 October 1637) was the Duke of Savoy and ruler of the Savoyard states from 26 July 1630 until his death in 1637. He was also known as the ''Lion of Susa''. He was succeeded by two of his sons; Francis Hya ...
.


Treasury and library

The cathedral possesses both an important treasury, now a museum, and the important
chapter Chapter or Chapters may refer to: Books * Chapter (books), a main division of a piece of writing or document * Chapter book, a story book intended for intermediate readers, generally age 7–10 * Chapters (bookstore), Canadian big box bookstore ...
library, housing the
Vercelli Book The Vercelli Book is one of the oldest of the four Old English Poetic Codices (the others being the Junius manuscript in the Bodleian Library, the Exeter Book in Exeter Cathedral Library, and the Nowell Codex in the British Library). It is an a ...
and the
Codex Vercellensis The title Codex Vercellensis Evangeliorum refers to two manuscript codices preserved in the cathedral library of Vercelli, in the Piedmont Region, Italy. Old Latin Codex Vercellensis The Old Latin Codex Vercellensis Evangeliorum, preserved in ...
.


References


Sources and external links


Website of the Commune of Vercelli: the Ecclesiastic MetropolisCathedral treasury

SOS Vercelli: Cathedral closed for building works from February 2011

Photographs
{{Authority control 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Renaissance architecture in Piedmont Roman Catholic cathedrals in Italy Cathedrals in Piedmont Churches in the province of Vercelli 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches completed in 1783 Burial sites of the House of Savoy Buildings and structures in Vercelli