Concattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta (Duomo di Cortona)

Cortona's Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta is a Renaissance rebuilding of a parish church documented from 1068.

Why it matters

The cathedral preserves the continuity of Cortona's religious life from the medieval pieve to the present diocese. Its Renaissance structure and later artworks represent several centuries of artistic patronage in the town.

What to notice

Romanesque traces survive in the sober late-Renaissance facade, alongside a loggia added in the late sixteenth century. Three naves lead beneath an eighteenth-century barrel vault. The works include a fifteenth-century terracotta Pietà, Pietro da Cortona's Adoration of the Shepherds, panels from Luca Signorelli's workshop and a mosaic of the Sacred Heart designed by Gino Severini.

Context and history

The parish church is documented from 1068. Cortona became a diocese in the early fourteenth century, and Santa Maria Assunta received cathedral status. A rebuilding at the end of the fifteenth century is associated with the circle of Giuliano da Sangallo. Later additions include the side loggia and the reworked vault. The church now serves as co-cathedral with Arezzo.