A journey through Renaissance art and Byzantine echoes

The Cathedral of Città di Castello, dedicated to Saints Floridus and Amantius, the city’s patron saints, stands in Piazza Gabriotti, in the heart of the historic centre. It is not only the city’s principal place of worship, but also a true stone “palimpsest”, combining Renaissance grandeur with Byzantine influences and medieval mysteries.

A brief history

According to tradition, the cathedral was founded in the sixth century by Bishop Floridus and the priest Amantius, who played a leading role in rebuilding the city after its destruction by the Goths. According to this account, Floridus decided to build the original cathedral, dedicated to Saint Lawrence, on the site of a temple commissioned by Pliny the Younger. The earliest surviving structure of the present building, however, dates back to the eleventh century.

In the fourteenth century, while the town hall was being built, the cathedral was also renovated. The elegant portal on the side façade dates from this period. It features allegorical figures of Justice and Mercy, from which vine tendrils extend to frame sacred scenes and other figures.

Over the centuries, the church underwent numerous restorations, some of them extensive. Following the devastating earthquake of 1458, it was completely rebuilt between 1466 and 1529 to designs by Elia di Bartolomeo, his son Tommaso, and a master builder named Piero di Lombardia, who adapted it to the new forms of Renaissance architecture.

Finally, in 1632, the façade was partially rebuilt to a design by Francesco Lazzari.

An exterior of contrasts: the unfinished façade and the “Ravenna-style” bell tower

Arriving in Piazza Gabriotti, visitors are immediately struck by the extraordinary visual impact created by the architectural contrast between the unfinished Baroque façade and the unusual cylindrical bell tower.

The monumental seventeenth-century façade presents a fascinating blend of rough-hewn stone blocks and Baroque decoration. Its lower section features a broad staircase, as well as pilasters and niches intended to house statues that were never installed.

Rising behind the church is the city’s true landmark: an exceptionally rare round Romanesque bell tower dating from the eleventh century. Unique in the Umbrian architectural landscape, it directly recalls the bell towers of Ravenna and Classe, bearing witness to the close historical ties between this valley and the Adriatic coast.

The interior: Renaissance grandeur and medieval spirituality

The church has a Latin-cross plan, with a single nave, side chapels and an eighteenth-century coffered ceiling. Its present appearance is the result of the sixteenth-century rebuilding carried out after a devastating earthquake permanently compromised the medieval structure. The interior is crowned by an eighteenth-century dome designed by Tommaso Catrani.

The side chapels, commissioned by the most prominent families of Città di Castello between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, are richly decorated with frescoes and paintings on canvas. Particularly noteworthy is the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, known as the “Cappellone”. It once housed Rosso Fiorentino’s panel painting Christ in Glory (1528–1530), now preserved in the adjacent Cathedral Museum.

Among the many works of art inside the church are paintings by Bernardino Gagliardi, frescoes by Tommaso Conca, The Conversion of Saint Paul by Niccolò Circignani, known as Pomarancio, and a carved and inlaid wooden choir dating from 1540.

The true journey through time, however, begins as you descend the steps leading to the lower church, or crypt. Dating from the eleventh century, this intimate and atmospheric space is divided into two aisles by massive pillars supporting low cross-vaults. It houses the spiritual heart of the city: the sarcophagus containing the relics of its patron saint, Floridus.

The crypt is also home to the remarkable statue of the Black Madonna of Città di Castello. Unlike traditional depictions, the Virgin is not holding the Christ Child in her arms. Instead, in her left hand she supports another, smaller female figure holding a sphere. Who – or what – does this figure represent? It is a mysterious detail that has intrigued historians and visitors for centuries.

The Cathedral Museum: a breathtaking concentration of art

Next to the Cathedral, in the rooms of the Canons’ Palace, is the Diocesan Museum. It houses masterpieces that alone would make the journey worthwhile.

Foremost among them is the Treasure of Canoscio, dating from between the fifth and sixth centuries AD. It is one of the rarest and most important collections of Early Christian silverware in the world and was discovered by chance in 1935 near the Sanctuary of Canoscio.

Other highlights include a twelfth-century altar frontal in embossed and gilded silver, donated by Pope Celestine II, who was originally from Città di Castello; Pinturicchio’s beautiful Madonna and Child, painted in 1484; and The Risen Christ in Glory, a masterpiece by the Mannerist artist Rosso Fiorentino, created between 1528 and 1530.

Whether you are a seeker of historical mysteries, a lover of Renaissance art or simply a traveller in search of beauty, the Cathedral of Città di Castello awaits you with a thousand-year-old story written in stone and silver.