Osimo Cathedral or the Church of San Leopardo ( it, Concattedrale di Osimo, ''Chiesa di San Leopardo'') is the principal church of Osimo in

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 the first bishop, Saint Leopardus. Formerly the episcopal seat of the

Diocese of Osimo The Diocese of Osimo was a Roman Catholic diocese in Italy. It was founded in the seventh century and in 1725 merged with the Diocese of Cingoli to form the Diocese of Osimo e Cingoli.co-cathedral of the Archdiocese of Ancona-Osimo.

History

According to local tradition the cathedral was built by the first Bishop of Osimo, Saint Leopardus (San Leopardo), in the 5th century, on an earlier pagan structure 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 ...

period. Another, unverified, tradition asserts that the building was re-constructed in the 7th century by the then bishop, Saint Vitalian: there are no structural remains of that period, but there is a stone tablet dedicated to Saint Vitalian built into the

crypt A crypt (from Latin ''crypta'' "vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics. Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a chur ...

wall. It was Bishop Gentile (end of the 12th century to the beginning of the 13th) who built the present presbytery and the crypt beneath. At the end of the 13th century Bishop Giovanni modified the structure of the Romanesque church by introducing

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 ...

elements. In 1393 the building was partially destroyed in a fire. Numerous re-buildings and extensions took place in the succeeding centuries, of which the most important were: the internal vaulting (late 15th century); the staircase to the

tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on the ...

(second half of the 16th century); the new pavement and the side altars (17th century), as also the plastering of all the internal walls. With the second half of the 19th century began what was referred to as "restoring the church", which in reality was tinkering with, if not simply destroying, the work of the preceding centuries. Thus the internal ramp which gave access to the tribune was removed, as were the two side ramps leading to the crypt (which were later replaced); two new side chapels were built, but the side altars were removed, as were the medallions bearing the portraits of the bishops of the diocese which had decorated the internal walls. In 1956 all the plastering was stripped.

Description

In the crypt (the work of Mastro Filippo in the 12th century) are kept 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 the martyrs of Osimo, Saints Sisinio, Fiorenzo, Diocleziano and Massimo, and the tombs of Saint Leopardus, first bishop of Osimo (4th–5th centuries), Saint Vitalian, Saint Benvenuto and Saints Victor and Corona. Near the cathedral is the

baptistry In Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned structure surrounding the baptismal ...

of the early 17th century with a magnificent

baptismal font A baptismal font is an article of church furniture used for baptism. Aspersion and affusion fonts The fonts of many Christian denominations are for baptisms using a non-immersive method, such as aspersion (sprinkling) or affusion (pouring). ...

, the work of Pier Paolo and Tarquinio Jacometti of Recanati, with a coffered ceiling by Antonio Sarti of Jesi. Of particular importance for the local history and faith is the wooden crucifix displayed in the cathedral, originating from the time of Bishop Gentile. It is said that on 2 July 1797 many witnesses saw the eyes of the crucified Christ move, and for that reason 2 July has since been a solemn feast.

External links

Medioevo.org: Osimo
with photos {{Coord, 43.4863, N, 13.4805, E, source:wikidata, display=title Roman Catholic cathedrals in Italy Cathedrals in the Marche Roman Catholic churches in Osimo Romanesque architecture in le Marche Gothic architecture in le Marche Osimo

History

Description

See also

External links