Museo del Tesoro della Cattedrale

The Cathedral Treasury Museum of Savona occupies the old Masseria rooms behind the cathedral choir. Its collection brings together sacred paintings, sculpture, metalwork and textiles from the cathedral and other religious institutions in the area.

Why it matters

Established in 1982, the museum preserves works accumulated by Savona's cathedral over seven centuries, including objects rescued from religious buildings that were demolished or deconsecrated. The collection reflects both the artistic history of the diocese and the patronage of the Rovere family, which shaped the old cathedral on the Priamar.

What to notice

The rooms include fourteenth-century alabaster sculptures and sacred vestments, panels by Tuccio d'Andria and Ludovico Brea, and the Adoration of the Magi triptych attributed to the Master of Hoogstraeten. A mid-thirteenth-century reliquary cross and a French Flight into Egypt group represent early Gothic metalwork. Later works include a monstrance associated with Sixtus IV, the pastoral staff of Cardinal Giuliano Della Rovere, Ligurian silverware and a fifteenth-century chasuble associated with Cardinal Vegerio.

Context and history

The treasury occupies the cathedral's former service building, the ancient Masseria, and was arranged to display its accumulated sacred objects. Among its notable paintings is the Hoogstraeten triptych, made before 1519 for the Commenda di San Giovanni Battista, later moved to San Domenico and transferred to the cathedral in 1973–74. The museum also preserves pieces from religious buildings across the Savona area that were lost or closed to worship.