Cattedrale di San Michele Arcangelo

Caserta's Cathedral of San Michele Arcangelo is a nineteenth-century neoclassical church whose construction followed the 1783 fire that destroyed the earlier parish church of San Sebastiano. Its crypt and the Sanctuary of the Addolorata form part of the cathedral complex.

Why it matters

The cathedral grew with the planned royal city below the Reggia. Its long construction reflects changing designs and disagreements among the architects and authorities involved, from the initial commission to later revisions.

What to notice

The church's neoclassical form belongs to Caserta's nineteenth-century urban development. Below the main church is a crypt, and the complex also includes the Sanctuary of the Addolorata.

Context and history

After the 1783 fire destroyed the old parish church of San Sebastiano, King Ferdinando I and the civil administration supported a new church dedicated to San Michele Arcangelo. Architect Giovanni Patturelli received the commission in 1815. The first stone was laid on 30 May 1822; the church was completed in March 1832 and opened for worship the following month. Carlo Diversi and, from 1837, Pietro Valente later revised the project.