Montefiascone Cathedral or the Basilica of Santa Margherita () is a former

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 ...

Montefiascone Montefiascone is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Viterbo, in Lazio, central Italy. It stands on a hill on the southeast side of Lake Bolsena, about north of Rome. History The name of the city derives from that of the Falisci (''Mons Fa ...

in the

province of Viterbo The province of Viterbo () is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Lazio region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Viterbo. Geography Viterbo is the most northerly of the provinces of Lazio. It is bordered to the south by the Metropolitan Cit ...

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

Saint Margaret of Antioch Margaret, known as Margaret of Antioch in the West, and as Saint Marina the Great Martyr () in the East, is celebrated as a saint on 20 July in Western Christianity, on 30th of July (Julian calendar) by the Eastern Orthodox Church, and on Epip ...

, the patron saint of the town. It was formerly the episcopal seat of the

Diocese of Montefiascone The diocese of Montefiascone (''Latin Name: Faliscodunensis o Montis Falisci'') was a Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Italy. It was created from the diocese of Bagnorea in 1369. In 1986 was incorporated into the diocese of Viterbo, Acquape ...

(suppressed and incorporated into the Diocese of Viterbo in 1986) and is now a

basilica minor 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 architectural ...

(status bestowed in 1943). It is one of the most important churches in the area, and has one of the largest domes in Italy (27 m of diameter), which is visible from most of the towns of the Viterbo area.

History

When Pope

Urban V Pope Urban V (; 1310 – 19 December 1370), born Guillaume de Grimoard, was head of the Catholic Church from 28 September 1362 until his death, in December 1370 and was also a member of the Order of Saint Benedict. He was the only Avignon pope ...

established the

in 1396, the church that was the most popular and most central was chosen to be the cathedral of the new diocese, after which major reconstruction began. The building from the crypt up to the base of the dome dates from the 15th and 16th centuries and was undertaken by the

Veronese Veronese is the Italian word denoting someone or something from Verona, Italy and may refer to: * Veronese Riddle, a popular riddle in the Middle Ages * Veronese (moth), ''Veronese'' (moth), a moth genus in the family Crambidae * Monte Veronese, ...

architect

Michele Sanmicheli Michele Sanmicheli, sometimes also transcribed as Sammicheli, Sanmichele or Sammichele (Verona, 1484There is no certainty about the date of his birth. Vasari reports 1484, while architectural historian Giulio Sancassani, through a study of his fat ...

, probably with the help of

Antonio da Sangallo the Younger Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (12 April 14843 August 1546), also known as Antonio Cordiani, was an Italian architect active during the Renaissance, mainly in Rome and the Papal States. One of his most popular projects that he worked on des ...

. At this time the lower church was created, and the plans for the upper church drawn up, although for economic reasons this phase of building stopped at the level of the roof, and the cathedral remained open to the elements until 1602.Montefiascone municipal website
After a fire during the night of

Good Friday Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha). It is observed during ...

in 1670 destroyed the roof and part of the interior of the cathedral, the repair and completion of the construction was entrusted to

Carlo Fontana Carlo Fontana (1634/1638–1714) was an Italian people, Italian"Carlo Fontana."
''Encyclopæ ...

, who amended Sanmicheli's plans to produce a dome more in keeping with contemporary taste which was to impact decisively on the landscape of the surrounding countryside. The new dome was opened on 16 December 1674. The bell towers and west front were designed and added in 1840 by the architect Paul Gazola, using very simple elements of decoration: the statues of Saint Flavian of Montefiascone and

, the principal saints worshipped in Montefiascone, and a classical tympanum supported by

Ionic column The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite o ...

s and surmounted by the

arms Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...

of Cardinal Macchi. The cathedral was created a basilica minor on 26 February 1943. In 1986 the Diocese of Montefiascone was amalgamated with a number of others to form the

Diocese of Viterbo, Acquapendente, Bagnoregio, Montefiascone, Tuscania e San Martino al Monte Cimino The Diocese of Viterbo () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in central Italy. From the 12th century, the official name of the diocese was the Diocese of Viterbo e Tuscania. In 1986, several dioceses were ...

,Catholic Hierarchy
/ref> and the church ceased to be an episcopal seat.

Besides a marble statue and some relics of Saint Margaret of Antioch, the cathedral contains the relics of Saint Lucia Filippini and the tomb of Cardinal Marco Antonio Barbarigo, and also a well-known wooden cross.

References

Sources

* Ballorotto, Agostino, et al., 1992: ''Montefiascone e la Basilica di Santa Margherita''. Montefiascone: Banca cattolica di Montefiascone {{Coord, 42.5366, N, 12.0303, E, type:landmark_source:kolossus-itwiki, display=title Roman Catholic cathedrals in Italy Cathedrals in Lazio Roman Catholic churches in Montefiascone Renaissance architecture in Lazio 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches completed in 1674 1674 establishments in Italy Church buildings with domes

History

Contents

See also

References

Sources