Duomo di Gubbio (Cattedrale dei Santi Mariano e Giacomo)

Gubbio Cathedral keeps its richness inward. Behind a severe Gothic front stretches a single nave, its ten great transverse arches framing works by local painters, the sarcophagus of Saints Mariano and Giacomo, and the craftsmanship of the city's Renaissance artists.

Why it matters

The municipal inventory dates the present building, raised over an earlier Romanesque church, to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. It is dedicated to Saints Mariano and Giacomo, whose relics rest beneath the high altar in a late-antique sarcophagus. The regional tourism portal describes a Latin-cross plan with one nave held up by ten great pointed transverse arches, a characteristic Eugubine church type also found in the basilica on the mountain.

What to notice

The sixteenth-century works include paintings by members of the Nucci family and by Basili, alongside works by Sinibaldo Ibi, Giuliano Presutti and Dono Doni. The Baroque chapel has frescoes by Francesco Allegrini and a canvas of the Nascita della Vergine by Antonio Gherardi. At the crossing end is the Seggio dei Magistrati, a magistrates' seat with inlaid marquetry by Benedetto Nucci; beneath the high altar is the sarcophagus holding the relics of the two saints. On the facade, the pointed portal carries a round window wrapped in foliage and surrounded by the symbols of the Evangelists and the Mystic Lamb. Remains of the earlier Romanesque church are visible beside the right side of the facade.

Context and history

The cathedral replaced a Romanesque predecessor, traces of which survive in the fabric. Its Gothic building campaign belongs to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, after which the interior was repeatedly reworked. In the early twentieth century Augusto Stoppoloni repainted the apse, triumphal arch and left-hand chapels between 1916 and 1918. The cathedral stands on Gubbio's upper terrace beside the Palazzo del Capitolo dei Canonici, now home to the diocesan museum, and is dedicated to the city's patron saints Mariano and Giacomo.