Cattedrale di Santa Maria in Platea

Santa Maria in Platea brings together several periods of Campli’s religious architecture. Its Romanesque fabric, octagonal bell tower and neoclassical central facade frame an interior of painted wood, Renaissance altars and medieval frescoes.

Why it matters

The cathedral title recalls Campli’s former episcopal status. Its art also preserves the town’s devotion to the Madonna Immacolata, proclaimed patroness in 1764 after an epidemic.

What to notice

Antonio da Lodi’s late-fifteenth-century octagonal tower rises above the church. Giovanni Fontana da Penne remodelled the central facade in 1793. Inside, Donato Teodoro’s wooden ceiling depicts the Assumption and episodes from the life of San Pancrazio. The left nave contains Sebastiano da Como’s 1532 altar, enriched with works associated with Silvestro dell’Aquila and Cola dell’Amatrice. Frescoes of the school of Giotto decorate the crypt.

Context and history

The church’s successive additions reflect the changing artistic languages of the town. Medieval masonry and painting coexist with Renaissance furnishings and later architectural alterations, rather than forming a monument of a single period.