The Cathedral of San Catervo 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 ...

church located in

Tolentino Tolentino is a town and ''comune'' of about 19,000 inhabitants, in the province of Macerata in the Marche region of central Italy. It is located in the middle of the valley of the Chienti. History Signs of the first inhabitants of this favorab ...

Province of Macerata The province of Macerata ( it, provincia di Macerata) is a province in the Marche region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Macerata. The province includes 55 comunes (Italian: ''comuni'') in the province, see Comunes of the Province of Mace ...

, Region of Marche. The 13th-century

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 church is now generally contained by a newer Neoclassical facade.

History

A church or chapel dedicated to Saint

Catervus Saint Catervus ( it, San Caterv ) (possibly 4th century) is the patron saint of Tolentino. Catervus is said to have brought the Christian faith to the city. Tolentino is known to have had bishops by the fifth century. The Cathedral of San Cater ...

existed at the site and was rebuilt in a by

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monks, starting in 1256. The presbytery of the prior gothic-style church stood at the site of the modern facade. At the time, the Chapel of San Catervo, now called the Chapel of the Santissimi Trinità was erected. In 1820, a reconstruction began, initially guided by the painter

Giuseppe Lucatelli Giuseppe Lucatelli (1751-1828) was an Italian painter and architect, active in a Neoclassical style. Biography Born in Mogliano to a father who was a doctor, he studied in Rome, in circles dominated by Sebastiano Conca and Anton Raphael Mengs. H ...

and followed by an architect from

Macerata Macerata () is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy, the county seat of the province of Macerata in the Marche region. It has a population of about 41,564. History The historical city centre is on a hill between the Chienti and Potenza ...

, Conte Spada. The portal on the left side of the church belongs to the original church. The Chapel of San Catervo contains a delicately carved 4th-century marble Ancient Roman sarcophagus, which retains its original dedicatory inscription to Flavius Julius Catervus, a noble of senatorial rank, who had been prefect and died at the age of 56 yrs. Tradition holds that he brought Christianity to Tolentino. The 15th century frescoes in the chapel are attributed to

Francesco da Tolentino Francesco Da Tolentino (active 1425 – 1435) was an Italian painter. Born in Tolentino, he probably left there as a young man for Umbria, then went on to paint in Naples and elsewhere in Campania and Apulia, including Agro Nolano, Melfi, a ...

; the depict the ''Evangelists'' and ''Sibyls'', a ''Madonna and Child with Saints Catervus and Sebastian'', an ''Adoration of the Magi'', and a ''Crucifixion''.Comune of Tolentino
entry on San Catervo.

References

{{Coord, 43.2096, N, 13.2879, E, source:wikidata, display=title Catervo

Catervo