Prato Cathedral
The Prato Cathedral , St.. Stephen , is the cathedral of the diocese of Prato and has had the title Basilica minor since 1996 . It is in the Piazza del Duomo in Prato .
history
The cathedral is one of the oldest churches in the city. It is first mentioned from the 10th century, but it was most likely built in the 5th century.
In the middle of the 12th century, the pieve began to be restored and expanded. The Romanesque cloister, which was partially changed in the 15th century, dates from that time.
At the beginning of the 13th century, the construction of the campanile began, probably according to a design by Giudetto da Como , and was completed in 1356/57.
In 1386, the current facade was created by Lorenzo di Filippo . The white Alberese marble and the green Serpentino marble were used as building materials. The work on the facade extended into the middle of the following century. The large portal with the lunette with a glazed terracotta high relief by Andrea Della Robbia , the Capella della sacra cintola and the outer pulpit by Donatello also date from the same period .
Exterior
Donatello's pulpit
In 1428, Donatello and Michelozzo di Bartolomeo were commissioned with the pulpit, which is intended to show the people the Sacra Cintola ( Belt of Our Lady ) on festive days (usually five times a year) . This is why the special position on the outside corner of the church was chosen so that the pulpit can be seen from two sides.
The pulpit rests on a pillar with an ornate bronze capital by Michelozzo. The capital bears the classic angel figure, which turns to the marble frame above with concentric circles.
The parapet made of white marble is decorated with a relief frieze and divided into 7 pictures with pilaster strips. There are dancing angels inside and the mosaic background gives the impression of movement.
portal
The large portal with two-tone layers was built in 1412–13 based on a design by Giovanni di Ambrogio and Niccolò di Piero Lamberti . It closes with a pointed arch bar in which there is a bezel, created in 1489 by Andrea Della Robbia , with the high relief of terracotta and white-blue glazing Madonna, il bambino ei santi Stefano e Lorenzo .
Interior
The three-aisled interior with a closing apse is divided by six arches on both sides. The transept is attributed to Giovanni Pisano , while the goblet-shaped pulpit was created by Mino da Fiesole and Antonio Rosselino in the 15th century . Inside the cathedral, the two-tone Alberese and Serpentino layers of the columns and arches predominate. The 16th century floor consists of hexagons and rhombuses made of red marble from Monsummano .
The large, wide space of the transept, which is covered by five large cross vaults with supporting beams, takes up the motif of the two-tone layers in relation to the structure, with the four very high octagonal half-pillars supporting the large pointed arches dividing the vaults of the apse chapels, be relieved.
Capella del transetto
In the middle of the Capella del Transetto there is an altar made of white marble and multilayer marble slabs. It was created by the Fratelli Cennini in the 17th century. A bronze crucifix by Ferdinando Tacca rises above it . The chapel is decorated with frescoes made by Filippo Lippi and his workshop in collaboration with Fra 'Diamante da Terranuova. The chapel's windows were probably made to designs by Filippo Lippi.
Capella della sacra cintola
The Capella della sacra cintola was created by Lorenzo di Filippo between 1386 and 1390 as a repository and place of worship for the Marian relic Holy Belt . Today the chapel is in the first part of the left nave.
The interior of the chapel is decorated with frescoes by Agnolo Gaddi . Depicted are the life of Our Lady and, in particular, episodes of the events surrounding the Holy Belt, which adorn the entire eastern wall. In the chapel there is a statue of the Madonna con Bambino made of white marble, it probably dates from the beginning of the 14th century and was intended for a small choir in the Pieve. It is the work of Giovanni Pisano . The chapel is closed in both directions to the church with a fine bronze grille, a Renaissance masterpiece by Maso di Bartolomeo .
organ
The organ was built in the 1960s by the organ builder Fratelli Ruffatti (Padua). The instrument has 52 stops on three manuals and a pedal . The works are distributed across the church interior: The choir organ (Organo corale) with ten stops on a manual and pedal is located at ground level in the transept . It is not visible. Grand'Organo, Espressivo and Pedal are housed in two identical organ casings, which are located in the transept on opposite galleries. The actions are electric.
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Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ At Easter and Christmas as well as on May 1st (beginning of the month of Mary), August 15th (Assumption of Mary) and September 8th (Birth of the Virgin). In addition, there are extraordinary reliquaries, for example on March 19, 2020, when the city “entrusted” itself to Maria during the COVID-19 pandemic . - Triduo, il vescovo Giovanni guida la via crucis intorno all'ospedale. A Pasqua torna l'ostensione del Sacro Cingolo. Diocesi di Prato, April 8, 2020, accessed on April 15, 2020 (Italian): “La preziosa reliquia mariana infatti viene mostrata ogni anno per cinque volte ai fedeli: Pasqua, primo maggio (per l'inizio del mese mariano), 15 agosto per l'Assunzione di Maria, l'8 September (Natività di Maria) e il giorno di Natale. (...) il 19 marzo con l'ostensione straordinaria per l'affidamento a Maria della città in questa emergenza sanitaria (...) “ - Video of the regular reliquary on September 8, 2019 and the extraordinary on March 19, 2020 with empty cathedral square .
Coordinates: 43 ° 52 '55 " N , 11 ° 5' 52" E