Terracina Cathedral ( or ''dei Santi Cesareo e Pietro'') is a Roman Catholic

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 ...

Terracina Terracina is an Italian city and ''comune'' of the province of Latina, located on the coast southeast of Rome on the Via Appia ( by rail). The site has been continuously occupied since antiquity. History Ancient times Terracina appears in anci ...

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

Caesarius of Terracina Saint Caesarius of Terracina (, "Saint Caesarius the Deacon") was a Christian martyr. The church of San Cesareo in Palatio in Rome bears his name. He is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church, with a feast ...

and formerly to

Saint Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the Jewish Christian#Jerusalem ekklēsia, e ...

. Formerly the episcopal seat of the diocese of Terracina, it is now a

co-cathedral A co-cathedral is a cathedral church which shares the function of being a bishop's seat, or ''cathedra'', with another cathedral, often in another city (usually a former see, anchor city of the metropolitan area or the civil capital). Instances o ...

in the diocese of Latina-Terracina-Sezze-Priverno.

History

The cathedral was built in the 5th-6th centuries using the remains of a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

temple with five

naves The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type b ...

in the city

forum Forum or The Forum may refer to: Common uses *Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States *Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city **Roman Forum, most famous example * Internet forum, discussion board ...

. The building underwent many alterations and restorations, among them those of the 11th century (reflecting its change of dedication from Saint Peter to the city's patron saint

in 1074), of the 13th century and above all the extreme restoration in the

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style of the 18th century, which reduced the church from five naves to three with the construction of side chapels and the covering over of the Romanesque A-framed ceiling with barrel vaulting. The cathedral was the site of the Papal conclave of 1088 which elected

Pope Urban II Pope Urban II (; – 29 July 1099), otherwise known as Odo of Châtillon or Otho de Lagery, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 March 1088 to his death. He is best known for convening the Council of Clermon ...

. , the cathedral is undergoing another restoration.

Description

The portico, which stands at the top of a flight of 30 steps on the podium of the Roman temple, is of artistic interest. It contains six reused Classical columns with a

triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road, and usually standing alone, unconnected to other buildings. In its simplest form, a triumphal ...

in the centre, surmounted by an ancient

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

with mosaic decorations including the figures of a winged monster, an eagle, palms, deer, birds, bulls and other things. Beneath the portico are a funerary basin of the Roman age and pairs of beasts crouching to either side of the bases of the columns. A further 7 steps lead to the two entrances to the cathedral, of which the principal one is decorated with marble friezes of the Augustan period. To the north of the portico is the Romanesque

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 ...

, curiously raised above ground level on four

pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

s. The interior has three naves separated by reused Roman columns, with side chapels. The two side naves terminate in

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, while the central one (which also has an apse, dating from 1729), terminates in a quadrangular space occupied by the

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

. The presbytery and the choir are about a metre higher than the three naves. The following features are of particular artistic interest: * the

Cosmatesque Cosmatesque, or Cosmati, is a style of geometric decorative inlay stonework typical of the architecture of Medieval Italy, and especially of Rome and its surroundings. It was used most extensively for the decoration of church floors, but was also ...

pavement of the central nave (12th-13th centuries) * the medieval

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

(first half of the 13th century), supported by five columns; * the spiral column, used to hold the Easter candle, of the mediaeval period; a marble inscription gives the maker and the date of the column: Crudele, 31 October 1245; *the 18th-century frescoes of the presbytery and choir, depicting episodes from the election of Pope Urban II.

External links

La Cattedrale di Terracina

Bibliography

* Christof Henning, 2006: ''Latium. Das Land um Rom. Mit Spaziergängen in der Ewigen Stadt.'' (3rd revised edition). DuMont: Köln (''Dumont-Kunst-Reiseführer''). * Anton Henze, 1994: ''Kunstführer Rom und Latium.'' Philipp Reclam GmbH: Stuttgart . {{Authority control Churches in the province of Latina Roman Catholic cathedrals in Italy Cathedrals in Lazio