Fermo Cathedral ( it, Cattedrale metropolitana di Santa Maria Assunta in Cielo; Duomo di Fermo) 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 let ...

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 denominatio ...

Fermo Fermo (ancient: Firmum Picenum) is a town and ''comune'' of the Marche, Italy, in the Province of Fermo. Fermo is on a hill, the Sabulo, elevation , on a branch from Porto San Giorgio on the Adriatic coast railway. History The oldest hu ...

, region of Marche,

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 ...

, 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 is the archiepiscopal seat of the Archdiocese of Fermo.

History

Paolo Monti - Servizio fotografico (Fermo, 1969) - BEIC 6331204

Archaeological excavations have demonstrated that the cathedral site was formerly that of a pagan temple. The first church was destroyed in 1176 during the campaign of Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor. It was rebuilt in 1227 under the patronage of Giorgio da Como. Construction was pursued over the following decades leading to the present façade with both Romanesque and

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 and built in Istrian stone. The rose window was sculpted by Giacomo Palmieri in 1348. The portal niche has a bronze statue of the ''Madonna of the Assumption'' by Nunzio Ucinelli. The atrium has frescoes from the 14th-century and the funeral monument of Giovanni Visconti d’Oleggio. The base of the bell-tower also dates from the early church. In 1781-1789, the cathedral was extensively refurbished, altering the interior into a Neoclassical layout. The architect was

Cosimo Morelli Cosimo Morelli (1732 – February 26, 1812) was an Italian architect, active throughout the Papal States in a Neoclassic style. Biography He was born at Imola. His father, also an architect, studied under Giovanni Domenico Trifogli, who was con ...

. The bronze doors to the church were completed in 1980 by Aldo Sergiacomi. The interior contains a paleo-christian sarcophagus of the 3rd to 4th century located in the 13th-century crypt, and a Byzantine style icon donated by

Giacomo della Marca Jacob de Marchia ( la, Jacobus de Marchia, it, Giacomo della Marca; c. 1391 – 28 November 1476), commonly known in English as Saint James of the Marches, was an Italian people, Italian Friar Minor, preacher and writer. He was a Papal legate an ...

.Marche Tourism guide

References

{{coord, 43.1611, N, 13.7164, E, source:wikidata, display=title Roman Catholic cathedrals in Italy Roman Catholic churches in Fermo Cathedrals in the Marche Roman Catholic churches completed in 1789 Neoclassical architecture in le Marche Romanesque architecture in le Marche Gothic architecture in le Marche Neoclassical church buildings in Italy