Oratorio della Grotta, Renaissance oratory in Urbino, Italy
The Oratorio della Grotta is an underground complex beneath Urbino's cathedral comprising three chapels linked by a corridor. The spaces display marble altars and barrel-vaulted ceilings typical of Renaissance design.
The oratory began around 1500 when Recalchi, a minor confraternity leader from Verona, established a religious community. Duke Guidobaldo da Montefeltro later provided the underground spaces to transform them into sacred chapels.
The Chapel of the Resurrection contains a marble Pietà sculpted by Giovanni Bandini in 1583, which conveys emotion through simplified and direct forms. This approach differs noticeably from how Michelangelo treated the same subject.
You enter through the left side of the cathedral portal and descend stairs to reach the underground chambers. A combined ticket that covers the Palazzo Ducale also grants access to these spaces.
These underground chambers were originally built to serve as stables for the Palazzo Ducale. Their conversion into sacred spaces reflects the duke's support for local religious practice.
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