Cattedrale di San Michele Arcangelo

Albenga's cathedral opens onto the piazza that is the city's heart, and its facade reads like a chronicle: a Romanesque nave, Gothic aisles, a bell tower rebuilt in 1391, a floor raised by river silt. Inside, a Carolingian-era crypt and traces reaching back to the fourth century.

Why it matters

This is the cathedral church of the Diocese of Albenga-Imperia and a historic centrepiece of Albenga. Its interest lies in the visible sequence of construction: the facade retains elements from successive building campaigns, while the cathedral, civic tower and Municipio tower form a group associated with the city's historic skyline. Its dedication to Saint Michael the Archangel links it with early medieval foundations that chose the archangel as patron.

What to notice

The facade's lower and central sections belong to the original single-nave Romanesque church, while the Gothic phase added side aisles and incorporated the formerly detached bell tower. As the Centa river deposited silt and raised the surrounding ground, the church floor and walls were raised in successive stages, a sequence still visible in the facade. The bell tower was rebuilt between 1391 and 1395 in five storeys above its Romanesque base. The crypt is of Carolingian age, and masonry traces reach back to the fourth century, when the church stood over the paleo-Christian cathedral of Albingaunum. Frescoes and the organ are among the interior's principal works.

Context and history

Albenga's bishops built on this site from late antiquity. The present cathedral was raised over the paleo-Christian church, and the eleventh and twelfth centuries produced the Romanesque structure whose lower facade, flanks and apse survive. Later growth brought a Gothic enlargement, with new aisles and the incorporation of the campanile. The Centa river gradually raised the urban surface, and the cathedral's elevated floor records this process. The building remains the seat of the bishop of the united Diocese of Albenga-Imperia, near the baptistery.