Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta e San Gottardo

Asti Cathedral, dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta and San Gottardo, combines a fourteenth-century Gothic structure with Romanesque remains and Baroque decoration. It is the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Asti.

Why it matters

The cathedral occupies a site used for Christian worship since late antiquity and preserves layers of the city's religious history. Romanesque, Gothic and eighteenth-century elements coexist in its fabric, documenting repeated rebuilding and artistic renewal.

What to notice

The brick façade has three rose windows and a strong vertical rhythm. Inside, the Latin-cross plan has three aisles. An eleventh-century mosaic survives in the presbytery, while Carlo Innocenzo Carloni's frescoes of the Virgin date to 1768–1769. The high altar was designed by Benedetto Alfieri in 1733. Works by Asti painters Gandolfino da Roreto and Guglielmo Caccia are also preserved in the church.

Context and history

An early cathedral stood on the site by the fifth or sixth century. A later Romanesque church was consecrated in 1095. The present Gothic cathedral was built between 1309 and 1354 over its predecessor. Its campanile, begun in 1266, survives beside the church. Baroque interventions in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries added the Alfieri altar and Carloni's fresco cycle.