Cattedrale di San Cassiano Martire

Imola’s Cathedral of San Cassiano combines a medieval foundation with the neoclassical architecture of Cosimo Morelli. Its crypt preserves relics associated with the city’s patron saints.

Why it matters

The cathedral is the seat of the Diocese of Imola. Its dedication to the martyr Cassiano connects the building with the early Christian history of the surrounding territory.

What to notice

Morelli’s interior has a central nave, side aisles and an elevated presbytery. The crypt contains the shrine of San Cassiano and memorials to other local saints. A sixteenth-century baptismal font, a wooden crucifix and paintings by Angelo Gottarelli belong to the church’s furnishings. The bell tower preserves part of the medieval building.

Context and history

An earlier cathedral stood outside the town walls. Land for the urban cathedral was granted in 1187, and the medieval church was consecrated in 1271. Eighteenth-century rebuilding gave the interior its neoclassical form; Pope Pius VI consecrated the transformed cathedral in 1782. Further work altered the facade in the nineteenth century, during the pontificate of Pius IX, a former bishop of Imola.