Mondovì Cathedral

Mondovì, Italy

Mondovì Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Province of Cuneo, Piedmont, dedicated to Saint Donatus of Arezzo. Several buildings were used over the centuries for the cathedral of the diocese. The first was the pieve of San Donato (12th century), which was replaced at the beginning of the 16th century by a new Renaissance church, which was demolished by order of Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, in 1574. The church of San Francesco was then declared the cathedral, to be replaced in its turn by the present one, which was built between 1743 and 1753 to designs by the architect Francesco Gallo, and consecrated ten years later by Bishop Michele Casati.

The cathedral is well-supplied with works of art, many of them from its predecessor buildings. Among them are the altar of the Renaissance church (1507), now kept in the chapter room; an ancient bust of Pope Pius V donated by Pope Pius XI in 1872; and various paintings of the 17th and 18th centuries by Piedmontese and Lombard artists. The painted decorations and the stucco work were executed in the mid-19th century. The presbytery and the main altar are decorated with large frescoes. The Chapel of Suffrage is a very fine example of the Rococo style of the 18th century, with an alabaster crucifix of the end of that century.

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Founded: 1743-1753
Category: Religious sites in Italy

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