Vercelli Cathedral
The Vercelli Cathedral or the Cathedral of St. Eusebius ( Italian Cattedrale di Sant'Eusebio ) is a church in the Piedmontese city of Vercelli . The cathedral of the archbishopric of the same name is the patron saint of the city's first bishop, Saint Eusebius of Vercelli . The cathedral, which today presents itself in a classical style , with a burial place for the House of Savoy , was built between the 16th and 19th centuries. The church on the Via Francigena was given in 1834 by Pope Gregory XVI. Granted the rank of minor basilica , in 1940 it was declared a national monument.
history
Previous buildings
According to tradition, Bishop Eusebius built a church over an old necropolis with the bones of St. Theonestus in the 4th century, which was also dedicated to him after his burial there. This building was destroyed during the Gothic incursions of the 5th century. As a successor, a large basilica was built elsewhere, inspired by those in Rome and Ravenna. A major renovation was carried out in the 9th century. Another major restoration took place in the 11th century, due to the extreme deterioration and in particular a severe fire in 997 that threatened the stability of the structure. In the 12th century, today's bell tower was built and the nave of the cathedral was restored: It now had five naves separated by columns, a transept and an imposing portico. The apse was decorated with mosaics, and in the choir there was an ambo sculpted by Benedetto Antelami .
Today's cathedral
In the second half of the 16th century, Bishop Guido Luca Ferrero prevailed over the cathedral chapter in a dispute over a new building, which wanted to preserve the important basilica in need of renovation. He had the choir torn down overnight in 1570 and commissioned Pellegrino Tibaldi von Valsolda with a new building in the spirit of the Counter-Reformation. The choir, the side chapels and the two sacristies were completed after eight years and connected to the existing building with eleven steps, but the parts of the building remained divided by a wall. In 1682 a baroque burial chapel of Blessed Amadeus IX was built on the south side . built with the support of Maria Johanna von Savoyen . The nave with the transept was rebuilt by Stefano Negro between 1702 and 1717, the remaining parts of the building, including the western front, were completed by Benedetto Alfieri and Luigi Barberis in 1757-63 , on the portal stand beside Christ the twelve apostles as larger-than-life figures . After that, only the bell tower of the previous church was preserved. Towards the end of the 18th century, a chapel was added in front of the north aisle for the recovered relics of St. Eusebius. This was restored by Giuseppe Locarni at the end of the 19th century, the urn with its remains is now under the high altar. Giovanni Larghi built a copper-clad stucco dome with drum and lantern over the crossing in 1857-60 . In 1871 the church floor was decorated with mosaics. At the beginning of the 21st century the chancel was redesigned, with the large Ottonian crucifix from the 10th century being hung here. Only the marble statue of the Madonna dello Schiaffo in a left side chapel remains from the original furnishings.
In addition to Amadeus IX. later also other members of the House of Savoy were buried, besides his wife Jolande of France also Karl I , Karl III. and Viktor Amadeus I.
Web links
- Chiesa di Sant'Eusebio on BeWeB (Italian)
Individual evidence
- ^ Basilica Cattedrale di S. Eusebio on gcatholic.org
- ^ Regio Decreto November 21, 1940, n. 1746 (Italian)
- ↑ Cattedrale di Sant'Eusebio on cittaecattedrali.it (Italian)
Coordinates: 45 ° 19 ′ 48.7 " N , 8 ° 25 ′ 20.9" E