Alatri Cathedral, otherwise the Basilica of Saint Paul ( it, Duomo di Alatri; ''Basilica concattedrale di San Paolo apostolo''), is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

Alatri Alatri ( la, Aletrium) is an Italian town and ''comune'' of the province of Frosinone in the region of Lazio, with c. 30,000 inhabitants. An ancient city of the Hernici,Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hernici". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed. ...

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, dedicated to

Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

. It was formerly the

of the

Diocese of Alatri The former Italian Catholic diocese of Alatri existed until 1986, when it was united into the diocese of Anagni-Alatri.

. Since 30 September 1986 it has been a co-cathedral of the

Diocese of Anagni-Alatri The Diocese of Anagni-Alatri ( la, Dioecesis Anagnina-Alatrina) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Lazio, Italy. It has existed in its current form since 1986. In that year the Diocese of Alatri was un ...

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

declared it a

basilica minor In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular b ...

on 10 September 1950.

History

The cathedral was built on what was once the centre of the

acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...

of Alatri over the remains of an ancient shrine of the

Hernici The Hernici were an Italic tribe of ancient Italy, whose territory was in Latium between the Fucine Lake and the Sacco River (''Trerus''), bounded by the Volsci on the south, and by the Aequi and the Marsi on the north. For many years of the earl ...

and of a temple dedicated to

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; h ...

. References to a cathedral go back to the first half of the 11th century: a

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

is documented here in 930. Under

Pope Innocent II Pope Innocent II ( la, Innocentius II; died 24 September 1143), born Gregorio Papareschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 February 1130 to his death in 1143. His election as pope was controversial and the fi ...

(1130–1143), probably in 1132, the

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

s of the martyred saint

Pope Sixtus I Pope Sixtus I (42 – 124/126/128), also spelled Xystus, a Roman of Greek descent, was the bishop of Rome from c. 115 to his death. He succeeded Alexander I and was in turn succeeded by Telesphorus. His feast is celebrated on 6 April. Name The ...

were

translated Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

here, and in honour of this the cathedral was refurbished: the main altar was completed in 1156. Further works took place through the 13th century, when in honour of the visit of

Pope Honorius III Pope Honorius III (c. 1150 – 18 March 1227), born Cencio Savelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 18 July 1216 to his death. A canon at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, he came to hold a number of importa ...

the screen and the

ambo Ambo may refer to: Places * Ambo, Kiribati * Ambo Province, Huanuco Region, Peru ** Ambo District ** Ambo, Peru, capital of Ambo District * Ambo Town, a town in Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia ** Ambo, Ethiopia, a capital of West Shewa Zone ...

, both by the

Cosmati The Cosmati were a Roman family, seven members of which, for four generations, were skilful architects, sculptors and workers in decorative geometric mosaic, mostly for church floors. Their name is commemorated in the genre of Cosmatesque work, ...

, were added, of which some traces still remain in the cathedral today. During the 16th century the internal walls were painted with

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

es of episodes from the translation of the relics of Saint Sixtus, now hidden by the modernising works of the 17th and 18th centuries which produced the cathedral as it appears today. The present façade and

campanile A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

by Jacopo Subleyras were added between 1790 and 1808, and the

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

and the tympanum in 1884. Finally, in 1932 the Chapel of St. Sixtus was built to house the relics of Saint Sixtus, in commemoration of the 800th anniversary of their translation to Alatri. During his visit to the diocese in 1950,

granted the cathedral the status of

Description

The façade, in stone and ''

opus latericium 250px, Example of ''opus latericium'' on a tomb of the ancient Appian Way in Rome.">Rome.html" ;"title="Appian Way in Rome">Appian Way in Rome. ''Opus latericium'' (Latin for "brick work") is an Ancient Rome, ancient Roman construction technique ...

'', is from the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th. The interior has a

Latin cross A Latin cross or ''crux immissa'' is a type of cross in which the vertical beam sticks above the crossbeam, with the three upper arms either equally long or with the vertical topmost arm shorter than the two horizontal arms, and always with a mu ...

ground plan, with three aisles separated by pilasters and a raised

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...

. As well as the relics of Sixtus I, the cathedral also keeps those of the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

Saint Alexander from the

Catacombs of Callixtus The Catacomb(s) of Callixtus (also known as the Cemetery of Callixtus) is one of the Catacombs of Rome on the Appian Way, most notable for containing the Crypt of the Popes (Italian: ''Cappella dei Papi''), which once contained the tombs of seve ...

, translated to Alatri in 1640, and the ''Ostia incarnata'', from the

Eucharistic miracle In Christianity, a Eucharistic miracle is any miracle involving the Eucharist. The Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox, Methodist, Anglican and Oriental Orthodox Churches belief that Christ is really made manifest in the Eucharist and deem ...

of Alatri of 1228. The cathedral's works of art include a copy of

Guido Reni Guido Reni (; 4 November 1575 – 18 August 1642) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, although his works showed a classical manner, similar to Simon Vouet, Nicolas Poussin, and Philippe de Champaigne. He painted primarily religious ...

's ''

Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...

''; the face of Saint Sixtus in chased and repoussé silverwork (1584); and the ''Madonna del suffragio'', a sculpted wooden group of figures executed in 1639. In a chapel are the remains of Blessed

Maria Raffaella Cimatti Maria Raffaella Cimatti (7 June 1861 – 23 June 1945) was an Italian member of the :it:Suore ospedaliere della misericordia, Hospitaller Sisters of Mercy, a religious institute dedicated to medical care. She was beatified by the Catholic Church i ...

, transferred here on 27 March 2010 from the church of St. Benedict.Il Tempo Frosinone - Traslazione delle spoglie di suor Maria Cimatti

Notes

External links

Cathedral website
{{Authority control Roman Catholic cathedrals in Italy