Cattedrale di Sant'Evasio

The cathedral of Sant'Evasio in Casale Monferrato preserves a distinctive Romanesque interior behind its twin-towered facade. Its great entrance narthex, medieval mosaics and silver-covered crucifix make it a central monument of the city's religious and artistic history.

Why it matters

Dedicated to Casale's patron saint, the cathedral links the town's medieval identity with the later history of its diocese. Tradition associates an earlier foundation with the Lombard king Liutprand. The present church took shape in the early twelfth century and was repeatedly repaired and transformed in the centuries that followed.

What to notice

The narthex is the building's most distinctive space: intersecting arches create an unusually complex entrance hall. Its forms have prompted comparisons with Armenian architecture. Within the five-aisled church, carved capitals and surviving panels of the medieval mosaic pavement preserve the imagery of the Romanesque period. The large crucifix above the presbytery and the baroque chapel containing Sant'Evasio's relics bring different periods of sacred art into the same interior.

Context and history

The destruction of Casale in 1215 forms an important part of the cathedral's history. Relics taken to Alessandria after that event returned in the fifteenth century. Nineteenth-century restoration substantially reshaped the building, including its asymmetric facade. The cathedral is therefore both a medieval survival and a record of later efforts to conserve and reinterpret the city's principal church.