Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta (Duomo)

Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta: where a thousand years of history rise from the ashes In the pulsating heart of Catanzaro, the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta and Saints Peter and Paul stands as a symbol of a faith that has been able to rise again from the most serious destructions.

This millenary sacred building, consecrated in 1121 in the presence of Pope Callistus II, holds a dramatic history of rebirths that reflects the very character of the Calabrian city. The Norman dream that became a reality When the Normans decided to build their cathedral in Catanzaro, they wanted to create something grandiose. The original building, as described by the chronicler Vincenzo D'Amato, was imposing: 120 arms in length, three naves with the central one 55 palms wide and the lateral ones 38, a height of 40 arms for the main nave. The façade had three doors, each side had one door, and a mighty bell tower on the right made the structure even more majestic. The dimensions were comparable to the other great Norman cathedrals in Calabria, and its dominant position over the settlement, with the apses facing east according to tradition, made it the spiritual and urbanistic hub of the medieval city. Centuries of trials and rebirths The history of the cathedral is a succession of destructions and reconstructions that testify to the resilience of the people of Catanzaro. Between 1509 and 1517, Bishop Torrefranca enlarged it and adorned it with marbles, rebuilding the apse and façade from the foundations. In 1638, a violent earthquake caused the collapse of the façade. In 1660, a devastating fire destroyed the walnut cabinets of the sacristy and part of the furnishings. The earthquakes of 1744, 1783, and 1832 caused such damage as to necessitate the prolonged closure of the building, with the transfer of worship to the Church of the Immaculate. Only in 1844 did the cathedral reopen, receiving the visit of the royals and new embellishments from Bishop De Franco, who had a new bell tower built according to the design of the architect Michele Manfredi. August 27, 1943: when history stopped But nothing had prepared Catanzaro for the trauma of August 27, 1943. Anglo-American bombings destroyed centuries of history and art in a few minutes. The architect Nave, who in 1933 had described the cathedral as "spacious, cold, classical" with "grandeur, dignity, serenity that convince the soul," would no longer have recognized that temple. The chapel of the patron saint Vitaliano was completely destroyed, along with the chapel of San Fortunato and the sacristy with its treasures. In the following ten years, thefts and looting completed the work of devastation, erasing artistic testimonies accumulated over eight centuries. Modern rebirth: the new Cathedral of 1960 From 1955, the complete reconstruction began, entrusted to the architects Vincenzo Fasolo and Franco Domestico. The new project, consecrated in 1960, maintained the original Norman layout but with significant innovations...