Duomo, Romanesque cathedral in Gemona del Friuli, Italy

The Duomo is a Romanesque cathedral in Gemona del Friuli featuring three rose windows on its facade, with the central one crafted in Venice between 1334 and 1336. The structure is protected by a tall defensive wall standing between the building and Mount Glemine, which shields it from potential landslides.

Built between 1290 and 1337 on the site of an earlier church, the Duomo was consecrated by Giovanni, bishop of Parenzo. An epigraph on the facade names the master builder Maestro Giovanni, architect and sculptor, credited with the portal and several facade sculptures. The present facade results from a drastic 19th-century reform carried out in 1825-1826.

Inside the cathedral is a wooden ancona carved by the Venetian Andrea Moranzone in 1391, showing 33 episodes from the Old and New Testaments. It is in poor condition after fire damage. A 15th-century Vesperbild, a theme of Austrian origin common in Friuli at the time, is also kept there.

The cathedral stands against a sturdy wall separating it from Mount Glemine, built to shield it from landslides and to form part of the town's defences. The bell tower, begun in 1341 and finished in 1369, rises about 50 metres to the left of the church. Inside, look for the 1423 bell called the "campana di Dante", kept on display rather than in the bell chamber.

The four bells in the bell tower date from 1920 and were made by the Pontifical Foundry Daciano Colbachini. They replaced the original bells that were melted down during World War I to provide bronze for military cannon production.