Cingoli Cathedral ( it, Cattedrale di Cingoli; Duomo di Cingoli; Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta) is a

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 ...

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 ...

dedicated to the

Assumption of the Virgin Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution ''Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows: We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by Go ...

in the town of

Cingoli Cingoli is a town and ''comune'' of the Marches, Italy, in the province of Macerata, about by road from the town of Macerata. It is the birthplace of Pope Pius VIII. History The town occupies the site of the ancient ''Cingulum'', a town of Picen ...

, province of Macerata, region of

Marche Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...

, Italy. It stands on the central piazza opposite the town hall. Formerly the seat of the bishops of Cingoli from 1725, it has been since 1986 one of the co-cathedrals in the

Diocese of Macerata-Tolentino-Recanati-Cingoli-Treia The Diocese of Macerata-Tolentino-Recanati-Cingoli-Treia ( la, Dioecesis Maceratensis-Tolentina-Recinetensis-Cingulana-Treiensis) is a Roman Catholic diocese in Italy. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Fermo.< ...

History

The present cathedral stands on the site of a previous church dedicated to the Holy Saviour (''Santissimo Salvatore'') which was demolished at the beginning of the 17th century to make way for a new building (the west front of the earlier church has been preserved in the north side of the present one). The new church was designed by the architect Ascanio Passeri; work began in 1615 and concluded in 1654. It was elevated to the status of a cathedral in 1725 by

Pope Benedict XIII Pope Benedict XIII ( la, Benedictus XIII; it, Benedetto XIII; 2 February 1649 – 21 February 1730), born Pietro Francesco Orsini and later called Vincenzo Maria Orsini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 May ...

and the dedication was changed at the same time to the Assumption of Mary (''Santa Maria Assunta''). The layout has a single nave with a triple apse, while the façade has a base of white stone with the remainder in brick. The exterior niches are vacant. The half-dome of the apse interior was frescoed in 1939 by

Donatello Stefanucci Donatello Stefanucci (1896–1987) was an Italian painter, active in his native Marche region, painting landscapes. A number of his works are on display in the Pinacoteca Civica of his native Cingoli. He frescoed the apse of the Cingoli Cathedral. ...

. The frescoes depict the Assumption of Mary with Saints Esuperanzio and

Sperandia Sperandia (or Sperandea) (1216 – September 11, 1276) is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church. Life Sperandia was born in Gubbio. It is often said that she was a relative of Saint Ubald, but there are no records to indicate that. She sp ...

, patron saints of the town, with a depiction of the twelve sacraments, and the confraternity of the cathedral, wearing white and red habits. Another fresco depicts Jesus and the

Sermon on the Mount The Sermon on the Mount (anglicized from the Matthean Vulgate Latin section title: ) is a collection of sayings attributed to Jesus of Nazareth found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5, 6, and 7). that emphasizes his moral teachings. It is ...

. The church has canvases depicting ''Sant’Albertino'' (16th-century) by an anonymous painter and the ''Death of St Cajetan'' by

Pier Simone Fanelli Pier Simone Fanelli (29 December 1641 - 1703) was an Italian painter active in the Region of the Marche, active in a Baroque style. Biography He was born in Ancona and died in Cingoli. His training is unclear. By 1665-1666 he was painting in th ...

, besides a 19th-century

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...

made with

scagliola Scagliola (from the Italian ''scaglia'', meaning "chips") is a type of fine plaster used in architecture and sculpture. The same term identifies the technique for producing columns, sculptures, and other architectural elements that resemble inlay ...

by Ampelio Mazzanti. There is also a monument by the sculptor

Pietro Tenerani Pietro Tenerani (11 November 1789 – 16 December 1869) was an Italian sculptor of the Neoclassic style. Biography He was born in Torano, near Carrara. He initially trained with his maternal uncle, the sculptor Pietro Marchetti, and in 18 ...

Pope Pius VIII Pope Pius VIII ( it, Pio VIII; born Francesco Saverio Maria Felice Castiglioni; 20 November 1761 – 30 November 1830), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 31 March 1829 to his death in November 1830. Pius VIII's ...

,Tourism office of Macerata
, by Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio Provincia di Macerata, entry on the church. who was a benefactor of the cathedral. The remains of saint

Bonfilius :''"Saint Bonfilius" can also refer to Buonfiglio dei Monaldi, one of the founders of the Servite Order.'' Bonfilius (c. 1040 – c. 1125) was an Italian saint, monk and bishop. He was born in Osimo, close to Ancona, and entered the Benedicti ...

, an 11th-century monk and

bishop of Foligno The Diocese of Foligno ( la, Dioecesis Fulginatensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Umbria, Italy. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of P ...

, have been interred in the cathedral in 1726 under the pontificate of Benedict XIII.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cingoli Baroque architecture in Marche 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches completed in 1654 Cathedrals in the Marche Roman Catholic churches in Cingoli