Interesting Sites Nearby
User Reviews
The construction of Novara Cathedral began in the 11th century of the original church on the site, which was consecrated in 1132. It was demolished in the mid-19th century to make way for the current structure, which incorporates from its predecessor the mosaic floor of the presbytery and a chapel dedicated to Saint Syrus. The present Neo-Classical cathedral was designed by the architect Alessandro Antonelli and was built between 1863 and 1869. It has recently undergone a 12-year-long restoration project which was completed in November 2009.
The baptistry, a separate structure although functionally part of the cathedral, is a Palaeo-Christian building dating from the 4th-5th centuries.
References:Doune Castle was originally built in the thirteenth century, then probably damaged in the Scottish Wars of Independence, before being rebuilt in its present form in the late 14th century by Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany (c. 1340–1420), the son of King Robert II of Scots, and Regent of Scotland from 1388 until his death. Duke Robert"s stronghold has survived relatively unchanged and complete, and the whole castle was traditionally thought of as the result of a single period of construction at this time. The castle passed to the crown in 1425, when Albany"s son was executed, and was used as a royal hunting lodge and dower house.
In the later 16th century, Doune became the property of the Earls of Moray. The castle saw military action during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and Glencairn"s rising in the mid-17th century, and during the Jacobite risings of the late 17th century and 18th century.