Spoleto Cathedral
| Spoleto Cathedral Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta |
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West front of Spoleto Cathedral
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| Basic information | |
| Location | Spoleto, Italy |
| Geographic coordinates | 42°44′07″N 12°44′26″E / 42.73528°N 12.74056°ECoordinates: 42°44′07″N 12°44′26″E / 42.73528°N 12.74056°E |
| Affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| Rite | Roman |
| District | Archdiocese of Spoleto-Norcia |
| Country | Italy |
| Ecclesiastical or organizational status | Cathedral |
| Architectural description | |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Architectural style | Romanesque |
Spoleto Cathedral (Italian: Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta; Duomo di Spoleto) is the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Spoleto-Norcia created in 1821, previously that of the diocese of Spoleto, and the principal church of the Umbrian city of Spoleto, in Italy. It is dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The church is essentially an example of Romanesque architecture, with a nave and two side-aisles crossed by a transept, although subsequently modified. It was built from the second half of the twelfth century after the city had been devastated by Frederick Barbarossa's troops, over an area where there had previously stood an earlier cathedral, dedicated to Saint Primianus (San Primiano) and destroyed by the emperor. A notable external porch and the belfry were added in the fifteenth and sixteenth century respectively.
The façade is divided into three bands. The lower one has a fine architraved door with sculpted door-posts. Two pulpits are provided on each side of the porch. The upper bands are separated by rose windows and ogival arches. The most striking feature of the upper façade is the mosaic portraying Christ giving a Benediction, signed by one Solsternus (1207). The part of the belfry contemporary with the church reuses Roman and early medieval elements.
The interior was significantly modified in the 17th-18th centuries. It has kept the original Cosmatesque floor of the central nave and the frescoed apse. The paintings of the latter were finished in 1467–1469 by Filippo Lippi and his pupils Fra' Diamante and Piermatteo Lauro de' Manfredi da Amelia: they depict scenes from the Life of the Virgin. Lippi is buried in the south arm of the transept.
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