Benevento Cathedral

Benevento Cathedral
Benevento Cathedral.
Basic information
Location	Benevento, Italy
Geographic coordinates	41°7′54.03″N 14°46′28.12″E / 41.1316750°N 14.7744778°E / 41.1316750; 14.7744778Coordinates: 41°7′54.03″N 14°46′28.12″E / 41.1316750°N 14.7744778°E / 41.1316750; 14.7744778
Affiliation	Roman Catholic Church
Province	Archdiocese of Benevento
Country	Italy
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Cathedral
Status	Active
Architectural description
Architectural type	Church
Architectural style	Romanesque
Groundbreaking	8th century

Benevento Cathedral (Italian: Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta or Duomo di Benevento) is a religious building in Benevento, southern Italy. The church dates to the Lombard foundation of the Duchy of Benevento, in the late 8th century, but after its destruction during Allied bombings in the course of World War II, it was largely rebuilt in the 1960s.

The Cathedral is in the site of the first Christian church in Benevento, where once was the Roman capitol. In general the foundation is dated to the early 7th century, although later, under duke Arechis II, it was enlarged in the 8th century into the edifice which is the current one's crypt. Around 830 the Lombard prince Sico I of Benevento enlarged the primitive church with a nave and two aisles and placed classical-style columns, which characterized the cathedral until its destruction in 1943.

In the 10th century, when Benevento became an archbishopric seat, bishop Roffredo enlarged the church, although it missed a façade and a bell tower till the 13th century. In November 1456 the nearly completed cathedral was damaged by an earthquake. It was repaired with the help of Pope Pius II and consecrated on 4 November 1473. Perhaps during this restoration it received two further aisles. Other modifications were added before a new reconsecration in 1687. Other earthquakes damaged the church in 1688 and 1702, after which it was brought to the appearance it kept until the Allied destroyed it in World War II.

The church was rebuilt in the 1950s and 1960s, under the design of Paolo Rossi De Paoli.

The modern church has maintained the Romanesque façade and bell tower. Also preserved is the crypt of the primitive church, with remains of 14th-century frescoes. All the rest belongs to the modern edifice completed in the 1960s.

The façade, dating to the late 13th century, is entirely in white marble, inspired by contemporary Pisan structures. It has two orders with six arcades, which are less deep in the lower one. The main portal is enclosed in an architrave and two richly decorated imposts. The side portals' imposts are re-used Roman architraves. The upper arcades form a loggia, and are separated by decorated columns. The arcade above the portal has a rose windows with twelve ray columns and a mosaic of the Mystic Lamb. The other arcades have oculi and a single mullioned window. The rightmost one, finally, has a depiction of "Knight" from the 13th century, placed there after the destruction of the original tomb it decorated.