Salerno Cathedral

St Matthew's Cathedral
Cathedral Church of Matthew the Apostle
Photo of St Matthew's
Location	Salerno
Country	Italy
Website	cattedraledisalerno.it
History
Consecrated	1084
Architecture
Style	Romanesque
Years built	1080
Completed	1085
Administration
Diocese	Salerno

Salerno Cathedral (or duomo) is the main church in the city of Salerno in southern Italy and a major tourist attraction. It is dedicated to Saint Matthew, whose relics are inside the crypt.

The Cathedral was built when the city was the capital of the Principality of Salerno.

Begun by Robert Guiscard in 1076 in the episcopate of Alfano I, the Duomo was consecrated by Pope Gregory VII 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 because inside is the tomb of Pope Gregory VII who rejected German domination of the Holy Roman Empire.

The Duomo was damaged in World War II when, as part of the Operation Avalanche, the Allies landed in Salerno in September 1943.

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 (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 rock intarsia, show influence of Arab art, and contains a series of ancient Roman sarcophagi.