Cattedrale di San Giovenale e Cassio

Narni's Cathedral of Saints Juvenal and Cassius is a Romanesque church with Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque additions, dedicated to the city's first bishop and the martyr Cassius.

Why it matters

The cathedral is Narni's principal church and a record of the city's changing religious and artistic history. Its successive building phases combine medieval architecture with later chapels and works of art.

What to notice

The fifteenth-century portico has three portals, and the facade reflects fourteenth-century rebuilding. The nave has lowered arches between the columns. The Sacello di San Giovenale is associated with the bishop's tomb. The Cappella della Beata Lucia contains an altar designed by Carlo Rainaldi and paintings by Francesco Trevisani, while the apse includes a wooden choir and chapels.

Context and history

An imperial grant to the cathedral chapter is recorded in 1047, and an inscription of 1120 records repairs to a portal. Pope Eugene consecrated the Romanesque church in 1145. The building became the cathedral in the thirteenth century, replacing Santa Maria Maggiore. The facade and apse were altered in the fourteenth century, and the fifteenth century added the portico and vaults. A Baroque campaign beginning in 1642 reshaped the chapels and tribune.