Cortona Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Cortona, ''Concattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta'') 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 ...

Cortona Cortona (, ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Arezzo, in Tuscany, Italy. It is the main cultural and artistic centre of the Val di Chiana after Arezzo. Toponymy Cortona is derived from Latin Cortōna, and from Etruscan 𐌂𐌖𐌓� ...

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

, central

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

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 ...

. It was the seat of the

Bishops of Cortona A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...

from 1507 to 1986, and is now a co-cathedral in the present

Diocese of Arezzo-Cortona-Sansepolcro The Italian Catholic diocese of Arezzo-Cortona-Sansepolcro has existed since 1986. In that year the historic diocese of Arezzo was combined with the diocese of Cortona and the diocese of Sansepolcro, the enlarged diocese being suffragan of the ar ...

History

The church was built over the remains of an ancient Roman temple and is mentioned (as a ''

pieve In the Middle Ages, a pieve (, ; la, plebe, link=no; plural ''pievi'') was a rural church with a baptistery, upon which other churches without baptisteries depended. The Italian word ''pieve'' is descended from Latin ''plebs'' which, after th ...

'', or

plebeian In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called plebs) were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words " commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Etymology The precise origins of ...

church) in the 11th century. In 1325 the diocese of Cortona was created from the territory of the

diocese of Arezzo The Italian Catholic diocese of Arezzo-Cortona-Sansepolcro has existed since 1986. In that year the historic diocese of Arezzo was combined with the diocese of Cortona and the diocese of Sansepolcro, the enlarged diocese being suffragan of the a ...

, but the present cathedral was not chosen at that date as the episcopal seat, although the adjoining building was used as the bishop's residence. In 1507

Pope Julius II Pope Julius II ( la, Iulius II; it, Giulio II; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope or th ...

resolved the anomaly and transferred the bishop's seat from the sub-urban church of San Vincenzo. As if in preparation for its new importance, the interior had been refurbished in the late 15th century.

Description

The appearance of the original medieval church is mostly hidden by later additions, such as the 18th century

barrel vault A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...

ed ceiling in the nave, which was repainted in the late 19th century by the local artist Giovanni Brunacci; in the same period the oval windows, the triumphal arch and the pavement were also added or remade. The oldest elements visible are in the Romanesque façade - a pier with capital, and small columns at the corners, and part of the large arcade. The church has a central nave and two aisles, divided by columns with

Brunelleschi Filippo Brunelleschi ( , , also known as Pippo; 1377 – 15 April 1446), considered to be a founding father of Renaissance architecture, was an Italian architect, designer, and sculptor, and is now recognized to be the first modern engineer, p ...

-inspired capitals. The south side has a

loggia In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior gallery or corridor, usually on an upper level, but sometimes on the ground level of a building. The outer wall is open to the elements, usually supported by a series of columns ...

built in the late 16th century. The bell tower dates from the middle of the same century. Artworks in the interior include an ''Adoration of the Shepherds'' by

Pietro da Cortona Pietro da Cortona (; 1 November 1596 or 159716 May 1669) was an Italian Baroque painter and architect. Along with his contemporaries and rivals Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini, he was one of the key figures in the emergence of Roman ...

and assistants (c. 1663), a ''Consecration of the Church of the Holy Saviour'' by

Andrea Commodi Andrea Commodi (1560–1638) was an Italian painter of the early-Baroque period. Born in Florence, but mostly active in Rome, he was a pupil of the painter Cigoli. He painted frescoes in the sacristy of San Carlo ai Catinari and a ''Fall of the Ang ...

(1607, brought here in the late 18th century) and a ''Descent of the Holy Spirit'' by Tommaso Bernabei (1528-1529). The town's

Diocesan Museum A diocesan museum is a museum for an ecclesiastical diocese, a geographically-based division of the Christian Church. Austria: * Diocesan Museum, Graz, Styria * Gurk Treasury, Carinthia * Diocesan Museum, Linz, Upper Austria * Cathedral Mus ...

houses works formerly in the cathedral, including

Pietro Lorenzetti Pietro Lorenzetti (; – 1348) or Pietro Laurati was an Italian painter, active between c. 1306 and 1345. Together with his younger brother Ambrogio, he introduced naturalism into Sienese art. In their artistry and experiments with three-dimens ...

's ''Maestà'' (before 1320), and a tapestry and a

reliquary A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', by the French term ''châsse'', and historically including ''wikt:phylactery, phylacteries'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary may be called a ''fereter'', and a chapel in which it i ...

from the period of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

Notes and references

Sources

Plan and photographs

Cortonaweb: Cattedrale
{{coord, 43, 16, 35, N, 11, 59, 03, E, type:landmark_source:kolossus-frwiki, display=title Roman Catholic cathedrals in Italy Roman Catholic churches in Cortona Cathedrals in Tuscany