Brugnato Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Brugnato; Concattedrale dei Santi Pietro, Lorenzo e Colombano) is a Roman Catholic

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 ...

located in the old centre of the city of Brugnato, in the Val di Vara in the

province of La Spezia A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

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 ...

. The dedication is to

Saint Peter Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...

Saint Laurence Saint Lawrence or Laurence ( la, Laurentius, lit. " laurelled"; 31 December AD 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roman ...

and

Saint Columbanus Columbanus ( ga, Columbán; 543 – 21 November 615) was an Hiberno-Scottish mission, Irish missionary notable for founding a number of monastery, monasteries after 590 in the Franks, Frankish and Lombards, Lombard kingdoms, most notably Luxeu ...

. Once the seat of the bishops of Brugnato, it is now a co-cathedral in the Diocese of La Spezia-Sarzana-Brugnato.

History

According to some sources, supported by finds in the foundations, the first religious building on the site was constructed in the 7th century over a palaeochristian

necropolis A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead". The term usually im ...

, the church of a monastery dependent on Bobbio Abbey, founded by and dedicated to

. It was rebuilt in the 11th-12th centuries, passed to a resident community of

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, and became in 1133 the seat of the diocese of Brugnato (suffragan of the

Archdiocese of Genoa The Archdiocese of Genoa ( la, Archidioecesis Ianuensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Italy. Erected in the 3rd century, it was elevated to an archdiocese on 20 March 1133. The archdiocese of Ge ...

) which had spiritual authority over the middle and upper Val di Vara. With the arrival of the

Ghibelline The Guelphs and Ghibellines (, , ; it, guelfi e ghibellini ) were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy. During the 12th and 13th centuries, rival ...

s during the 14th century, and the consequent flight of the bishop, who took refuge in Pontremoli, the cathedral lost importance, although it remained as the church of the abbey of the Benedictine community. In 1820 the diocese was merged into those of

La Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest city ...

and Sarzana- Luni to form a single diocese with its seat in La Spezia, leaving the abbey church with the title of "co-cathedral". Restoration work in the 1950s brought about the rediscovery of the remains of the original Romanesque church which were the objects of study in 1994 when archaeological excavations conducted by the archaeological authorities of Liguria revealed the ancient perimeter walls, the floors and a

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). ...

beneath the centre of the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

In 2009 the cathedral hosted the "Meeting internazionale delle comunità di San Colombano".

Description

The groundplan is based on two asymmetrical naves separated by columns, a fairly common arrangement in the religious buildings of

Lunigiana The Lunigiana () is a historical territory of Italy, which today falls within the provinces of Massa Carrara, Tuscany, and La Spezia, Liguria. Its borders derive from the ancient Roman settlement, later the medieval diocese of Luni, which no longe ...

although less so in the churches of Liguria. Above the massive columns are thick semi-circular arcades. There are differences between the two naves: the central and larger one is covered by

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 ...

ing and ends in a semicircular apse with three single-light windows; the smaller side nave to the south however has bays of groin vaulting and terminates in a square wall inside within an external curved apse. The interior, which is very sober, with few decorative elements retains traces and sculptured fragments from the ancient primitive church, as well as some

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

es among which, on the second column on the south, is one of the 14th century depicting Saint Columbanus giving a blessing; another, discovered during the works of 1994, is on the wall of the lesser nave and shows the ''

Presentation in the Temple A presentation conveys information from a speaker to an audience. Presentations are typically demonstrations, introduction, lecture, or speech meant to inform, persuade, inspire, motivate, build goodwill, or present a new idea/product. Presenta ...

'', in which may be recognised, not only

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

, Mary and the high priest, but also Saint

Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christianit ...

and Saint Laurence. A painting by Vincenzo Comaschi, dated 1821, depicts the ''Virgin Mary with the Infant Jesus on her lap'' among angels and Saints Francis and Laurence. Near the high altar is a polyptych showing ''Scenes from the life of Christ''.

Gallery

Image:Brugnato-abside cattedrale.jpg, The apse with part of the bell tower Image:Brugnato-IMG_0141.JPG, Fresco of ''Saint Colombanus giving a blessing'' Image:Brugnato-IMG_0142.JPG, Fresco of ''The Presentation in the Temple'' Image:Brugnato-cattedrale-polittico.jpg, Polyptych of ''Scenes from the life of Christ''

References

Bibliography

*Maestri, A., 1939 et seq: ''Il culto di San Colombano in Italia. Archivio storico di Lodi'' *Paglieri Pazzini, Nadia, & Paglieri, Rinangelo, 1990: ''Chiese in Liguria''. Genova: Sagep Editrice *Ratti, Grazia, 1989: ''Arte e devozione in Val di Vara''. Genova: Sagep Editrice *Tomaini, P., 1963: ''La Cattedrale della Diocesi di Brugnato''. Città di Castello

External links

Website of the Diocese of La Spezia-Sarzana-Brugnato
{{coord, 44, 14, 12.30, N, 9, 43, 26.20, E, display=title Roman Catholic cathedrals in Italy Cathedrals in Liguria Churches in the province of La Spezia 12th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Romanesque architecture in Liguria