Treia Cathedral, otherwise the Church of the Annunciation (, ) 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 ...

in the city of

Treia Treia is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Macerata in the central Marche (Italy). It is north of Pollenza, west of Macerata, and north-northeast of Tolentino. Geography The site of the abandoned Roman municipium of Trea is situated i ...

Macerata Macerata () is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy, the county seat of the province of Macerata in the Marche region. It has a population of about 41,564. History The historical city centre is on a hill between the Chienti and Potenza (ri ...

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 the

Annunciation The Annunciation (; ; also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord; ) is, according to the Gospel of Luke, the announcement made by the archangel Gabriel to Ma ...

. It was formerly the seat of the bishop of Treia from the creation of the diocese of Treia in 1817 to its merging into the

Diocese of San Severino The former Italian Catholic Diocese of San Severino, in the Province of Macerata, Marche in Central Italy, existed until 1986. In that year it was united into the Archdiocese of Camerino to form the Archdiocese of Camerino-San Severino Marche. Hi ...

in 1920, and following several other mergers 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 ...

of the

Diocese of Macerata-Tolentino-Recanati-Cingoli-Treia The Diocese of Macerata-Tolentino-Recanati-Cingoli-Treia () is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in Italy. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Fermo.collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons, a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, headed by a dignitary bearing ...

, was erected between 1782 and 1814 to designs by the architect

Andrea Vici Andrea Vici (1743–1817) was an Italian architect and engineer, active in a Neoclassical style. He was a pupil of Luigi Vanvitelli, and active in the Papal States comprising parts of Lazio, Umbria, and Marche. Biography Andrea was born in Ar ...

(1743-1817), a pupil of Vanvitelli. It has a

Greek cross The Christian cross, with or without a figure of Jesus, Christ included, is the main religious symbol of Christianity. A cross with a figure of Christ affixed to it is termed a crucifix and the figure is often referred to as the ''corpus'' (La ...

ground plan with three naves, divided by

Corinthian column The Corinthian order (, ''Korinthiakós rythmós''; ) is the last developed and most ornate of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order, which was the earliest, ...

s and pilasters. It has an enormous

crypt A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...

nine metres high. The sacristy of the cathedral houses a painting depicting the ''Apparition of the Virgin Mary near the Convent of Forano to the Blessed Pietro da Treia and the Blessed Corrado da Offida '' by Giacomo da Recanati. In the church itself is a bust of

Pope Sixtus V Pope Sixtus V (; 13 December 1521 – 27 August 1590), born Felice Piergentile, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 1585 to his death, in August 1590. As a youth, he joined the Franciscan order, where h ...

by Bastiano Torrigiani. The church also houses a canvas depicting a ''Deposition'' by

Vincenzo Pagani Vincenzo Pagani (–1568) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance period. Biography Vincenzo was born at Monterubbiano, near Fermo in the region of March to a father who served as a magistrate, but also had an affinity for painting. He appears ...

.Pro Loco Treia.

Sources and external links

Beni.culturali.marche.it - Chiesa della SS. Annunziata

Roman Catholic cathedrals in Italy Cathedrals in the Marche Churches in Treia 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches completed in 1814 {{Italy-RC-cathedral-stub