Duomo di Vicenza (Cattedrale di Santa Maria Annunciata)

Vicenza Cathedral layers Christian worship above Roman remains: a paleochristian crypt, a late-Gothic façade, Palladio's dome and a north portal associated with the architect. Bombing in 1944 destroyed much of the building; postwar reconstruction preserved its earlier layers.

Why it matters

Roman domestic remains lie below the cathedral, whose site has served Christian worship since at least the third century. The bishop's seat was here by 1066. The present building preserves work by Lorenzo da Bologna and Andrea Palladio, alongside medieval and postwar construction. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Vicenza, dedicated to Santa Maria Annunciata.

What to notice

The stepped late-Gothic façade was rebuilt after wartime destruction. Lozenge panels beneath the second-order arches bear the date 1467 and the invocation Ave Maria. The dome at the crossing is attributed to Palladio: the Comune paid him from 1558, and the drum, dome and lantern were erected in 1564–65. The double-shell masonry structure is clad in copper. The apse, begun in 1482 to Lorenzo da Bologna's design, was completed after 1557, when the Comune received a bequest. The north portal was commissioned in 1560 by canon Paolo Almerico. The crypt contains Roman mosaic floors, heated rooms and a basalt-paved road about three metres below the church floor.

Context and history

A Roman villa occupied the site. In the third century, two rooms were joined into a hall that some scholars identify as a domus ecclesiae. After Constantine, a rectangular apsed hall was built against the Roman walls; in the fifth century a three-aisled basilica with a polychrome mosaic floor, dedicated to Saint Euphemia, served as the cathedral. Around 1000–1013 Bishop Girolamo built a five-aisled church, remains of which were found beneath the crypt. The Gothic rebuilding ran from 1444 to 1467 under the Barbo bishops; the apse campaign continued through the mid-sixteenth century. Bombing on 14 May 1944 destroyed most of the nave and burned the vaults. Reconstruction under architect Ferdinando Forlati and Bishop Carlo Zinato lasted from 1946 to 1950. Later work renewed the presbytery; liturgical furnishings were redesigned in 2009.