Amelia Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Amelia, ''Cattedrale di Santa Firmina'') 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 ...

in Amelia in the

province of Terni The Province of Terni ( it, Provincia di Terni) is the smaller of the two provinces in the Umbria region of Italy, comprising one-third of both the area and population of the region. Its capital is the city of Terni. The province came into being ...

Umbria it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , ...

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 ...

. It was formerly the seat of the

Bishop of Amelia The Italian Catholic Diocese of Amelia, existed from the fifth century until 1983. In that year it was united into the new diocese of Terni, Narni, e Amelia. It was a suffragan of the archdiocese of Spoleto.co-cathedral in the

Diocese of Terni-Narni-Amelia The Diocese of Terni-Narni-Amelia ( la, Dioecesis Interamnensis-Narniensis-Amerina) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Umbria, central Italy. It was created in 1983, when the Diocese of Amelia was un ...

. Amelia Cathedral, dedicated to Saint Firmina, was built originally in 872. That building was destroyed by the troops of

Emperor Frederick II Frederick II (German: ''Friedrich''; Italian: ''Federico''; Latin: ''Federicus''; 26 December 1194 – 13 December 1250) was King of Sicily from 1198, King of Germany from 1212, King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor from 1220 and King of Jerusa ...

in the 13th century, and was rebuilt in

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style. That building too was destroyed, by a fire in 1629, and was reconstructed in

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

form. The present façade of pink

cotto Cotto may refer to: * Cotto (name), a surname common amongst those of Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French or Sephardic Jewish ancestry * Cotto (material), a type of Italian brick tile * Cotto salami, a cooked variety of salami * Cotto Laurel, ...

was completed only in the 19th century, after a destructive earthquake in 1822. The cathedral 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 ...

groundplan and a single nave. The

relics 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 ...

of Saints Firmina and Olimpiade, the patron saints of the city, are preserved here. In a side-chapel are two Turkish banners captured at the

Battle of Lepanto The Battle of Lepanto was a naval engagement that took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of Catholic states (comprising Spain and its Italian territories, several independent Italian states, and the Soverei ...

in 1571. A number of notable works of art are housed here, including a depiction of the ''Last Supper'' (1538) painted by Giovanni Francesco Perini, the tomb of the Geraldini (1476) by

Agostino di Duccio Agostino di Duccio (1418 – ) was an early Renaissance Italians, Italian sculptor. Born in Florence, he worked in Prato with Donatello and Michelozzo, who influenced him greatly. In 1441, he was accused of stealing precious materials from ...

, a

Madonna and Child In art, a Madonna () is a representation of Mary, either alone or with her child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Catholic and Orthodox churches. The word is (archaic). The Madonna and Child type is very prevalent in ...

attributed to

Antoniazzo Romano Antoniazzo Romano, born Antonio di Benedetto Aquilo degli Aquili (c. 1430 – c. 1510) was an Italian Early Renaissance painter, the leading figure of the Roman school during the latter part of the 15th century. He "made a speciality of rep ...

, the Chapel of the Farattini containing among other items the funerary monument of Baldo Farrattini (bishop of Amelia 1558-62) by Ippolito Scalza, and works by

Niccolò Circignani Niccolò Circignani (c. 1517/1524 – after 1596) was an Italian painter of the late-Renaissance or Mannerist period. Biography Born in Pomarance, he is one of three Italian painters called Pomarancio. His first works are documented from th ...

Federico Federico (; ) is a given name and surname. It is a form of Frederick, most commonly found in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. People with the given name Federico Artists * Federico Ágreda, Venezuelan composer and DJ. * Federico Aguilar Alcuaz, r ...

Taddeo Zuccari Taddeo Zuccaro (or Zuccari) (1 September 15292 September 1566) was an Italian painter, one of the most popular members of the Roman mannerist school. Biography Zuccaro was born in Sant'Angelo in Vado, near Urbino, the son of Ottaviano Zuccaro, ...

, and a modern copy of the stolen original of a "Martyrdom of Saint Firmina" by

Lavinia Fontana Lavinia Fontana (August 24, 1552 – August 11, 1614) was a Bologna, Bolognese Mannerism, Mannerist painter active in Bologna and Rome. She is best known for her successful portraiture, but also worked in the genres of mythology and religious pai ...

. There is also an organ from 1600. The

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 ...

of the cathedral was erected in 1050 using fragments of Roman buildings.

Notes

Sources and external links

Catholic Encyclopedia: Amelia

{{coord, 42.5574, 12.4145, type:landmark_region:IT, display=title Roman Catholic cathedrals in Italy Amelia Neoclassical architecture in Umbria Neoclassical church buildings in Italy