Genoa Cathedral

Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Lawrence Cattedrale Metropolitana di San Lorenzo
West front of Genoa Cathedral.
Basic information
Location	Genoa, Italy
Geographic coordinates	44°24′26.92″N 8°55′53.83″E / 44.4074778°N 8.9316194°E / 44.4074778; 8.9316194Coordinates: 44°24′26.92″N 8°55′53.83″E / 44.4074778°N 8.9316194°E / 44.4074778; 8.9316194
Affiliation	Roman Catholic Church
Province	Archdiocese of Genoa
Year consecrated	1118
Architectural description
Architectural style	Gothic
Groundbreaking	1110
Completed	17th century

Genoa Cathedral (Italian: Duomo di Genova, Cattedrale di San Lorenzo) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in the Italian city of Genoa. It is dedicated to Saint Lawrence (San Lorenzo), and is the seat of the Archbishop of Genoa. The cathedral was consecrated by Pope Gelasius II in 1118 and was built between the twelfth century and the fourteenth century as fundamentally a medieval building, with some later additions. Secondary naves and side covers are of Romanesque style and the main facade is Gothic from the early thirteenth century, while capitals and columns with interior corridors date from the early fourteenth century. The bell tower and dome were built in the sixteenth century.

The cathedral was founded probably in the 5th or 6th century AD, devoted to Saint Sirus, bishop of Genoa. Excavations under the pavement and in the area in front of today's west front have brought to light walls and pavements of Roman age as well as pre-Christian sarcophagi, suggesting the existence of a burial ground in the site. Later a church devoted to the Twelve Apostles was built, which was in turn flanked and replaced by a new cathedral dedicated to Saint Lawrence, in Romanesque style. Money came from the successful enterprises of the Genoese fleets in the Crusades.

The transferring of the cathedral favored the urbanization of the zone that, with the construction of its walls in 1155, and the fusion of the three ancient city nuclei (castrum, civitas and burgus), became the heart of the city. The piazza, in the absence of other public squares and centers of lay power, was the city's only public space for the whole Middle Ages. The cathedral was consecrated by Pope Gelasius II in 1118, and from 1133 had archiepiscopal rank. After the fire of 1296, provoked by fights between Guelphs and Ghibellines, the building was partly restored and partly rebuilt. Between 1307 and 1312 the façade was completed, the inner colonnades rebuilt with capitals and matronei added. The Romanesque structures remained pretty untouched, and frescoes of religious subject were also added.