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[  THE CATHEDRAL BASILICA ]

 

The construction of the Cathedral began in 1292, following the rebuilding of the city in 1289. It soon, however, became the source of conflict between the city rulers and the local Church authorities and by 1374 the building works were still not complete.

This, Cagli's second cathedral, built with three naves, was restructered in 1646 to make way for the cathedral which stands today.

The church, whose building took about a century to complete, was consecrated on 10th October 1677. The dome was completed in 1707 and the interior decoration was completed in 1719.

On the 3rd June 1781 a violent earthquake struck the cathedral, bringing down the dome and with it the vaulting in the transept, the presbytery and part of the central nave.

On the advice of the papal architect, Giovanni Antinori, the dome was not rebuilt. Its place was taken by the vaulting which stands today. After substantial restoration work, the cathedral was re-opened in 1792.

Pope John Paul II raised the Duomo to the status of Basilica in 1982.

The incomplete facade contains traces of the original single windows which were filled in, and traces of pilaster strips from the earlier medieval Duomo.

The two stone portals, one of which has a rectilinear tympanum dating from 1842, were designed by Valadier's pupil Michelangelo Boni. The low sturdy bell-tower has an octagonal belfry built to the design of Giovanni Antinori and dated 1790.

On the left hand side, from the old cathedral you can still see the elaborate Gothic portal of 1424, the work of Mastro Antonio di Cristoforo of Cagli. In the lunette over it there is a 17th Century painting in oil, which is now difficult to decipher, depicting The Madonna Enthroned with Child, Saint Michael Archangel and Saint Geronzio (patron saint of Cagli), painted by Lodovico Viviani of Urbino, pupil of Barocci and brother of the better known Antonio Viviani.

With a length of 54 mts, and a layout in the form of a three nave basilica, the Duomo is among the largest cathedrals in the Marche region.

The restoration works carried out after the 1781 earthquake did not interfere with the stucco work of the two brothers Giovanni and Passardro Passardri of Lugano.

The marble altars, built in the 17th and 18th Centuries are attributed to Giosefatte of Cingoli and Traiano Ascani of Sant' Ippolito and, above all, to Francesco and Giovanni Fabbri, also of Sant' Ippolito.

Right Nave - At the head of the nave is the marble funeral monument to Sante Mochi by "Checchino" Benni, a Cagli stoneworker who went on to work with Sacconi on the building of the Monument to Victor Emmanuel II in Rome.

The first chapel after the Mochi monument, holds the late 18th Century statue of Saint Peter. It is made of stucco with bronze effects and was consecrated in 1792.

On the altar of the second chapel is The Death of Saint Andrew Avellino by the Cagli artist Gaetano Lapis (1758). In the painting, the saint is struck by apoplexy while celebrating mass.

The altar of the Crucifix in the next chapel, which is closed by doors painted with the symbols of the Passion, comes from the old cathedral. The full-size wooden Crucifix stood on the main altar until 1579. The 18th Century altarpiece which stands in the last chapel of the right nave is of Saint Emidio and shows the City of Cagli in the bottom left hand corner.

Transept and Apse - The altar in the right transept was constructed in 1756 to the commission of the Comune of Cagli - its coat of arms is inlaid into the base of the columns. The design to which the monumental stone worker Giovanni Fabbri worked is by Gianfrancesco Buonamici of Rimini, while the plaster statues of Faith and Charity placed on the tympanum are by the Bologna sculptor Carlo Sarti. The main altarpiece of The Patron Saints was painted by the Roman painter Liugi Garzi in 1704 to a commission by the municipal authority. Saint Geronzio is shown kneeling with his emblem, a goose, to one side. Around him, in anti-clockwise order, are Saint Martin, The Archangel Michael, The Madonna with Child, Saint John the Baptist and Saint Cajetan of Thiene. The organ, which stands to one side of the altar, was built in 1889 by N: Morettini.

A large marble decoration (1805) stands in the apse with a golden sunburst. At its centre there is a fragment of a 15th Century fresco depicting The Madonna of Grace with unusual green eyes. The chiaroscuro paintings of The Four Evangelists in the niches of the apse were painted by Fabieni da Fano during the reign of Pope Pius VI (1775-1799). He also painted The Apostles at the Tomb of the Virgin in tempera. The figures in the central vault of the transept are the four major protectors of the diocese of Cagli - Saint Michael Archangel, Saint John the Baptist, Saint Martin, bishop and Saint Geronzio. The Assumption (which is also the name of the church) is depicted in the centre.

The main altar was built in marble in 1801. Beneath it lies the body of Saint Victor the Martyr, dressed in soldier's uniform. It was the gift of Cardinal Protector Gaspare of Carpegna and placed there in 1711. The designs for the wide wooden Choir still survive. It was the work of a Roman architect, carried out while Castracano Castracane (1660-1669) was bishop. Most of the work was carried out by "Mastro Carlo of Fossombrone, woodcarver, and Mastro Bonaventura Monti, carpenter, of Urbania" during the bishopric of Monsignor Catellani (1686-1694) and completed in 1722.

The altar in the left transept is decorated using marble dust, dated 1791 (and signed Serafino Rosetti) with statues of Hope and Strength. Until the 1781 earthquake it had been built of marble and belonged to the Medicis of Florence as heirs to the Duchy of Urbino. The altarpiece, which has substantial gaps to it, depicts The Madonna with Child, Saint Peter and Saint John the Baptist. It is thought to have been painted in 1695 by Cavaliere Rosini of Siena upon the commission of Cardinal Francesco Maria de' Medici (though it has been suggested that the painting is more properly attributable to a member of the Nasini family of Siena).

The Chapel of the Holy Sacrament - The chapel was built in 1744 to designs by Anton Francesco Berardi, who had worked beside Vanvitello's trusted collaborator Carlo Murena in Gubbio. Until 1770 it was decorated with the plaster work of Stefano Notari of Gubbio. The paintings of The Communion of the Apostles and The Fall of Manna are unmistakably the works of Gaetano Lapis, painted in Rome between 1754 and 1756. The oval 18th Century paintings of The Four Evangelists are by an unknown painter.

The left nave - Arriving at the first altar after the Transept, we find a painting of the Annunciation. It is a copy of the celebrated altarpiece painted by Federico Barocci for the Holy Sanctuary of Loreto and now in the Vatican Museum. The fine quality of the painting suggests that it may also have come from Barocci's workshop. The landscape seen through the open window in the painting is typical of the Urbino countryside. The painting of Eternal Father in the tympanum is an early work by Gaetano Lapis, then still a youth. The next painting, depicting The Assumption of Mary, was painted to temporarily decorate the apse after the 1781 earthquake.

The Altar of the Conception in the next chapel holds a 16th Century fragment of The Immaculate Conception, attributed to Giuliano Persciutti of Fano, which came from the earlier cathedral. The 17th Century Eternal Father in the tympanum over it is by the Cagli painter Giambattista Gambarini.

The next altarpiece is a 17th Century depiction of the bishop Saint Liborio, painted by Giulio Cesare Begni of Pesaro.

The sumptuous gilt wood canopy over the baptismal font is in the form of ample drapes which hang from an ornate frame holding an oil painting on canvas of the Baptism of Christ. The standard which hangs over the side door was at one time used in the Corpus Christi procession and, on one side, depicts Christ Resurrected and on the other The Lamb of God.

In the Chapter House (open on request) there is a 17th Century painting of The Madonna and Child attributed to Giovan Battista Salvi (1609-1685), better known as Il Sassoferrato. Portraits of some of the bishops of Cagli hang along the walls. The first of them (to the right top) is a posthumous portrait of Greciano (4th Century) while the last of them, by Arturo Gatti, is of Monsignor Raffaele Campelli, enthroned in 1939. The Madonna of Grace (1954) is also by Gatti, who was cagliese by adoption and known chiefly for his great cycle of paintings in the Polish Chapel of the Sanctuary of Loreto.

There are also some interesting paintings in the first sacristy, which you pass to reach the Chapter House. In 1579 the painting of The Assumption of Saint Michael Archangel and Saint Gerontius stood on the Cathedral's High Altar. The Calling of Saint Andrew is a copy of a painting by Federico Barocci, while the Saint Luigi Gonzaga is by Sebastiano Conca. The Madonna and Child dates from the 16th Century and The Annunciation is one of the early works of Giovan Giacomo Pandolfi (1575 - after 1636).

text by Albert Mazzacchera

 

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Comune di Cagli
Piazza Matteotti, 1 - 61043 Cagli (Pesaro-Urbino)
centralino: 0721 78071
e-mail:
municipio@comune.cagli.ps.it