Rossano Cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Rossano-Cariati. The cathedral was built in the 11th century, with substantial reconstruction in the 18th and 19th centuries. It has a central nave and two side-aisles, terminating in three apses. The bell tower and the baptismal font date from the 14th century, while the other artworks and furnishings are of the 17th and 18th centuries.
The cathedral houses an ancient image of the Madonna Acheropita, an image of the Madonna and Child supposedly discovered in the cathedral plaster and not painted by human hand, which is dated to somewhere between about 580 and the first half of the 8th century.
In the sacristy in 1879 was discovered the Codex Purpureus Rossanensis ('Rossano Gospels'), a Greek evangeliary of the 5th or 6th century of Middle Eastern origin (probably Antioch), which was probably brought to Rossano by a monk taking refuge from the Arab invasions of the Middle East during the 9th and 10th centuries.
The manuscript comprises 188 leaves of parchment dyed purple containing the Gospels of Matthew and Mark and the Epistula ad Carpianum (a letter from Eusebius of Caesarea to a Christian named Carpianus). Although it is mutilated and anonymous, the manuscript is perhaps the most representative testimony of the Byzantine connections of Rossano. The texts are in gold and silver ink, with 15 miniatures showing the most important moments in the life and preaching of Jesus.
References:The first written record of church in Danmark locality date back to the year 1291. Close to the church are several stones with a Christian text and cross inscribed. The oldest parts of the present red-brick church are from the 1300s. In the late 1400s the church was enlarged to the appearance it has today. The church has been modified both internally and externally several times, among other things after the fires in 1699 and 1889. There are lot of well-preserved mural paintings in the walls.