Salerno Cathedral (or

duomo ''Duomo'' (, ) is an Italian term for a church with the features of, or having been built to serve as a cathedral, whether or not it currently plays this role. The Duomo of Monza, for example, has never been a diocesan seat and is by definitio ...

) is the main church in the city of

Salerno Salerno (, ; ; ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Campania, southwestern Italy, and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after Naples. It is located ...

in southern

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 a major tourist attraction. It is dedicated to Saint Matthew, whose

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

are inside the crypt. The Cathedral was built when the city was the capital of the

Principality of Salerno The Principality of Salerno () was a Middle Ages, medieval Mezzogiorno, Southern Italian state, formed in 851 out of the Principality of Benevento after a decade-long civil war. It was centred on the port city of Salerno. Although it owed alle ...

, over a more ancient church ("Church of S. Maria degli Angeli and S. Giovanni Battista") probably from the last roman centuries.

History

The foundation, initiated in 1076 under

Robert Guiscard Robert Guiscard ( , ; – 17 July 1085), also referred to as Robert de Hauteville, was a Normans, Norman adventurer remembered for his Norman conquest of southern Italy, conquest of southern Italy and Sicily in the 11th century. Robert was born ...

, in the episcopate of Alfano I, occurred simultaneously with that of the Basilica of St. Peter Alli Marmi. The Duomo was consecrated by

Pope Gregory VII Pope Gregory VII (; 1015 – 25 May 1085), born Hildebrand of Sovana (), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 April 1073 to his death in 1085. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. One of the great ...

in 1084. In 1688, the architect Ferdinando Sanfelice remodelled the interior of the Duomo in the Neapolitan Baroque and Rococo styles. A restoration in the 1930s brought it back to an appearance similar to the original one. The Duomo is a symbol of the Italian

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

because inside is the

tomb A tomb ( ''tumbos'') or sepulchre () is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called '' immurement'', alth ...

who rejected imperial domination of the church. The Duomo was damaged in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

when, as part of the Operation Avalanche, the Allies landed in Salerno in September 1943.

Architectural features

Madonna with child fresco at Salerno Cathedral

The most striking external feature is the bell tower (mid-12th century), with small arcades and mullioned windows, standing 56 m high and in Arabic-Norman style. It contains 8 large bells. The façade has a Romanesque portal with Byzantine-style bronze doors from

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

(1099), with 56 panels with figures, crosses and stories from Jesus's life. The entrance has a portico with 28 antique columns whose pointed arches, with

lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a Natural satellite, moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a Fissure vent, fractu ...

rock

intarsia Intarsia is a form of wood inlaying that is similar to marquetry. The practice dates from before the seventh century AD. The technique inserts sections of wood (at times with contrasting ivory or bone, or mother-of-pearl) within the solid wood ...

, show influence of Arab art, and contains a series of ancient Roman

sarcophagi A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek σάρξ ' meaning "flesh", and φ� ...

. The interior has a nave and two aisles, divided by pilasters in which the original columns are embedded, and three

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 ' ...

s. Artworks include two pulpits with mosaic decorations, paintings by

Francesco Solimena Francesco Solimena (4 October 1657 – 3 April 1747) was a prolific Italian Baroque painter, one of an established family of painters and draughtsmen. Biography Francesco Solimena was born in Canale di Serino in the province of Avellino. H ...

, a 14th-century Gothic fresco of ''Madonna with Child'' and the sepulchres of the Neapolitan queen Margaret of Durazzo, of Roger Borsa and of archbishop Bartolomeo d'Arpano, and the tomb of Pope Gregory VII. The Cathedral is visited by thousands of tourists from all over the world and has two important additional sections: the ''Duomo Museum'' and the ''Cripta'' with Saint Matthews remains. The "Duomo Museum" houses artworks from different ages, including the silver statues of the Salernitane Martyrs (13th century) and documents of the renowned

Schola Medica Salernitana The Schola Medica Salernitana () was a medieval medical school, the first and most important of its kind. Situated on the Tyrrhenian Sea in the Mezzogiorno, south Italian city of Salerno, it was founded in the 9th century and rose to prominence in ...

(the first University of Europe, according to some scholars like G. Crisci).

The Cript

The most famous and important section of the Cathedral is the Cript, that contains the rests of one of the twelve apostles: Saint Matthew. This Crypt, with the remains of

Matthew the Apostle Matthew the Apostle was one of the Twelve Apostles, twelve apostles of Jesus. According to Christian traditions, he was also one of the four Evangelists as author of the Gospel of Matthew, and thus is also known as Matthew the Evangelist. Th ...

brought there in 954 AD, is a groin vaulted hall with a basilica-like plan divided by columns. It was restored under design by Domenico Fontana and his son Giulio in 1606–1608, with marble decorations added in the 18th century. All of the ceiling frescoes are painted by Belisario Corenzio and depict scenes from the

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells the story of who the author believes is Israel's messiah (Christ (title), Christ), Jesus, resurrection of Jesus, his res ...

, as well as some episodes of the history of Salerno (such as the siege of the city by the French). Inside the Cript there are the tombs of saint Caio, Ante e Fortunato & San Felice with the remains of virgin saints Marina and Costanza. The Cript (in Italian), with photos
/ref> Inside a hole of the Cript's main altar can be seen the original remains of Saint Matthew, that produced until the XIX century a special liquid called "Manna San Matteo" (similar to the Saint Gennaro's blood liquefaction).

Notes

Sources

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External links

Photo of the Cripta of the Salerno Cathedral Official website

Link to an Italian page about the Cathedral
{{Coord missing, 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 Campania