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Golfo
dei Poeti
Lerici, Portovenere
Tellaro, Fezzano, Cadimare.. -
Golfo
dei Poeti
Lerici, Portovenere
Tellaro, Fezzano, Cadimare... -
Golfo
dei Poeti
Lerici, Portovenere
Tellaro, Fezzano, Cadimare...
LA SPEZIA CHURCHES
The church of Santa Maria Assunta is Spezia’s ancient church, gives onto the piazza Beverini. Little remains of the original structure, after the reconstruction works that took place after World War Two. Mentioned for the first time in 1343, it was adopted by the local parish in 1432. Between the 15th and 16th century, the church was expanded and adorned with a Biassa sandstone façade. Its importance increased in 1734, when it was declared a collegiate church, and in 1929 it was officially declared a cathedral. It maintained this status until the Cristo Re Cathedral was built.
Given its central location, the church houses many famous works of art, such as Domenico Fiasella’s “L’Assunta”, Angiolo del Santo’s statue of San Giuseppe and the sarcophagus of Baldassarre Biassa. A glazed piece of earthenware depicting the “Coronation of the Vergine di Andrea della Robbia, a Casoni tapestry depicting “La moltiplicazione dei pani”, and Luca Cambiaso’s “Il martirio di San Bartolomeo” were all recovered from the former Francescan convent when it was torn down to make room for the construction of the naval dockyard. The 15th century chapel boasts a valuable Crucifix of the same era, which was recovered from the now demolished church of San’Antonio.
The modern cathedral dedicated to Cristo Re replaced the church of Santa Maria Assunta, which had held the title of cathedral since the creation of the spezian Diocese in 1929. The cathedral faces onto piazza Europa, and is built on a small relief that stretches out to the sea, over the remains of the Cappuccini convent. A harbour office is has also been built on the relief, overlooking the sea.
A competition was held to decide who would design and supervise the building of the church, which was won by Brenno Del Giudice. However, construction soon ground to a halt and was restarted in 1956 under the supervision of Adalberto Libero, and later Cesare Galeazzi, who both changed the design to suit their liking. The cathedral was consecrated in 1975.
This imposing building has a circular base, and is surrounded by a lovely courtyard, which is dominated by a large cupola supported by 12 columns. The church preserves an effigy of Cristo Re del Maragliano and the remains of San Vernerio, patron saint of the Gulf of Spezia, as well as those of San Terenzo and Sant’Eutichiano, two former bishops of Luni. The tomb of the first bishop of the diocese, Monsignor Costantini, is also housed in the cathedral.
The pievi of La Spezia
The sanctuary of the Madonna dell’Olmo
The church of Santa Maria Assunta