Pavia Cathedral

Cathedral of Saint Stephen Duomo di Pavia
Façade of the Cathedral of Pavia.
Basic information
Location	Pavia, Italy
Geographic coordinates	Coordinates: 45°11′4.5″N 9°9′13″E / 45.184583°N 9.15361°E / 45.184583; 9.15361
Affiliation	Roman Catholic
Province	Pavia
Architectural description
Architect(s)	Cristoforo Rocchi, Giovanni Antonio Amadeo and Gian Giacomo Dolcebuono
Architectural type	Church
Architectural style	Renaissance
Groundbreaking	15c

The Cathedral of Pavia (Italian: Duomo di Pavia) is a church in Pavia, northern Italy, the largest in the city. The construction (presently still unfinished in some minor details) was begun in the 15th century on the site of two pre-existing Romanesque cathedrals (Santo Stefano and Santa Maria del Popolo). The cathedral houses the remains of St. Sirus, first bishop of Pavia. Next to the cathedral was the Civic Tower (Torre Civica), known in 1330 and enlarged in 1583, which collapsed on March 17 1989.

History

The cathedral was begun in 1488 under architect Cristoforo Rocchi, soon replaced by Giovanni Antonio Amadeo and Gian Giacomo Dolcebuono. The original project, with a nave and two aisles flanked by semicircular niches and a large central dome, was influenced by Bramante, some details of it later appearing in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Also Leonardo da Vinci is known to have contributed to the project.

In 1521 the altar area was completed by a pupil of Leonardo. In the 17th century the presbytery area had been completed, but only in the following century the tambour was erected, while the dome itself and the façade had to wait for the 19th century. In the 1930 the construction continued with the two arms of the transept, for which the original plan was followed, although using reinforced concrete (in order to save the remains of the medieval Santa Maria del Popolo). The arms are still missing part of the internal marble decoration.

Overview

The church is on the Greek Cross plan: it therefore has the same length and width at the transept (c. 84 m). Such size makes it one of the largest edifices with central plan in northern Italy.

The central dome, with an octagonal plan, is 97 m tall, with a total weight of some 20,000 tons. It is the fourth in Italy in size, after St. Peter's, the Pantheon and Florence Cathedral.