Salerno Cathedral, Romanesque cathedral in Salerno, Italy
Description
Salerno Cathedral is a basilica from the Norman period in the heart of the old quarter. The bell tower rises 56 meters (about 184 feet) and carries eight large bronze bells from different centuries, while small arcades and Arab-Norman decoration enliven the outer wall.
History
Roberto Guiscardo began construction in 1076 and Pope Gregory VII consecrated the building in 1084 during his flight to Salerno. The cathedral replaced an older church and became a symbol of Norman power in southern Italy.
Culture
The shrine of Saint Matthew draws pilgrims from across the region and sits in the lower church beneath the main altar. The so-called manna, a drop of liquid that once emerged from the tomb, was considered a sign of divine favor for centuries and was collected in small phials and distributed to the faithful.
Practical
The bronze door at the entrance comes from Constantinople and displays 56 panels with biblical scenes visible even from a distance. A broad stone stairway leads through the courtyard up to the portal, flanked by two marble lions originally from Roman times.
Did you know?
The courtyard with its colonnaded arcades is the only fully preserved atrium of its kind in all of Italy. Roman sarcophagi line the side walls and tell of the long layering of eras in this place.
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San Pietro a Corte
246 m
Palazzo Fruscione
247 m
San Giorgio
181 m
Complesso monumentale di Santa Sofia
255 m
Diocesan Museum of Salerno
60 m
Museo archeologico provinciale di Salerno
198 m
Palazzo Sant'Agostino
227 m
Tempio di Pomona
52 m
Santa Maria de Lama
348 m
Church of the Holy Cross
222 m
Palazzo San Massimo
345 m
Provincial Pinacotheca of Salerno
136 m
Monte dei Morti
89 m
Archivio di Stato di Salerno
196 m
Palazzo Pinto
147 m
Palazzo Natella
347 m
Sant'Agostino
224 m
Museo virtuale della scuola medica salernitana
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Roberto Papi Museum
362 m
Chiesa di San Michele Arcangelo
133 m
Chiesa di San Filippo Neri
315 m
Convitto Nazionale Torquato Tasso
195 m
Chiesa di San Gregorio
113 m
Chiesa dell'Annunziatella
263 m
Chiesa di Santa Lucia de Judaica
273 m
Conservatorio Ave Gratia Plena Minor
262 m
Palazzo Carrara
120 m
Provincial Archaeological Museum of Salerno
194 mDiscover hidden gems everywhere you go!
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