Ripatransone 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 ...

and

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 the town of

Ripatransone Ripatransone is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Ascoli Piceno in the Italian region Marche, located about southeast of Ancona and about northeast of Ascoli Piceno. History The hill of Ripatransone (whose name means "rock of Transo ...

province of Ascoli Piceno The province of Ascoli Piceno () is a province in the Marche region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Ascoli Piceno, and the province is bordered by the Adriatic Sea to the east, the province of Fermo to the north, and it faces the regions ...

, region of

Marche Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...

, Italy. It is located on Piazza Ascanio Condivi. The cathedral is dedicated to

Saint Gregory the Great Pope Gregory I (; ; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great (; ), was the 64th Bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 until his death on 12 March 604. He is known for instituting the first recorded large-scale mission from Rom ...

and to Saint Margaret. It was formerly the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Ripatransone but is now a co-cathedral in the Diocese of San Benedetto del Tronto-Ripatransone-Montalto.

History and decoration

The main layout of the cathedral was erected between 1597 and 1623 by the architect Giuseppe Guerra. The octagonal tiburium (corridor across base of

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

drum) dates to 1786, the Neoclassical façade to 1842, while the bell-tower was built from 1884 to 1902. The architect of the latter was F. Vespignani. The interior was frescoed in the 1950s by the brothers Michelangelo and Marcantonio Bedini. The spandrels depict the four evangelists. while in the dome are the four cardinal virtues. They also painted the apse frescoes. The wooden pulpit with panels depicting the five glorious mysteries was carved by D. Bonfini of Patrignone. The apse has wooden choir stalls (1620) by Agostilio Evangelisti. The main altar has two paintings, a 17th-century canvas depicting ''San Gregorio Magno'' and an 18th-century ''Nativity''. Among other works in the church are a polychrome wooden crucifix putatively donated by

Pope Pius V Pope Pius V, OP (; 17 January 1504 – 1 May 1572), born Antonio Ghislieri (and from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 January 1566 to his death, in May 1572. He was an ...

in 1571 and attributed to Giovanni Battista Casignola. There is also an altarpiece by

Orazio Gentileschi Orazio Lomi Gentileschi (; 1563 – 7 February 1639) was an Italian painter. Born in Tuscany, he began his career in Rome, painting in a Mannerist style, much of his work consisting of painting the figures within the decorative schemes of other ...

. There are three canvases depicting the ''Madonna and Child, St Peter, St Roch, St Antony of Padua, and John the Baptist'' (1579) by Simone de Magistris; a ''Carlo Borromeo'' (1623) attributed to

Alessandro Turchi Alessandro Turchi (1578 – 22 January 1649) was an Italian painter of the early Baroque, born and active mainly in Verona, and moving late in life to Rome. He also went by the name Alessandro Veronese or the nickname ''L'Orbetto''. His style ...

; and an altarpiece S. Ciannavei di Ascoli Piceno (active 18th–19th centuries). The musical organ (1783) was made by the Venetian Gaetano Callido. It was originally made for the Church of the Magdalene (''Chiesa della Maddalena'') of the Franciscans. From the cathedral one can enter the Diocesan ''Sanctuary of the Madonna'', known also as the ''Sanctuary of San Giovanni'' (patroness of the city since 1893). The sanctuary was erected in 1846–58 by design of G. Carducci of Fermo, and it houses four statues by Luigi Fontana. The aedicule, designed by Francesco Vespignani in 1881, houses the venerated Simulacro (1620), a work of S. Sebastiani. The crypt of the cathedral has a polychrome ceramic crucifix by Giuseppe Marinucci.Comune of Ripatransone
tourism entry.

References

{{coord, 42.9991, N, 13.7610, E, source:wikidata, display=title Roman Catholic cathedrals in Italy Cathedrals in the Marche Neoclassical architecture in le Marche Roman Catholic churches completed in 1623 Roman Catholic churches completed in 1842 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Churches in the Province of Ascoli Piceno 1623 establishments in Italy Neoclassical church buildings in Italy