Duomo di Pozzuoli (Cattedrale di San Procolo)

Pozzuoli Cathedral crowns the Rione Terra, its Baroque façade enclosing the remains of the Roman Temple of Augustus. Dedicated to Saint Proculus, the city's patron, the church layers Roman, early Christian and later architectural history in one landmark.

Why it matters

The temple's marble structure became part of the Christian church raised over it in late antiquity. The cathedral was damaged by fire in 1964 and abandoned with the Rione Terra after the bradyseism emergency of 1970. Restoration was completed and the church reopened in May 2014. Its artistic history includes a canvas by Artemisia Gentileschi, commissioned for the cathedral and depicting San Gennaro among the tamed lions of the amphitheatre.

What to notice

The building's layers are visible around the cathedral group: the Baroque church, medieval walls and, within the adjacent archaeological route, the podium and marble elements of the Temple of Augustus. Inside, Artemisia's painting connects the city's patron saint with the Roman amphitheatre across town.

Context and history

The Temple of Augustus stood at the heart of the Roman colony founded in 194 BC. Its podium remains part of the church's structural core. The cathedral became the seat of the bishop and the symbolic centre of the medieval Castro puteolano. The fire of 1964 gutted its Baroque interior; decades of closure followed before the restoration and reopening of 2014.