Chiavari Cathedral
The Cathedral of Chiavari or Cattedrale di Nostra Signora dell'Orto ( German Cathedral of Our Lady of the garden ) is a church in Chiavari in Italian Liguria . The cathedral of the diocese of the same name is a Marian shrine and has the rank of a minor basilica . The baroque church from the beginning of the 17th century was expanded in the 19th century and received a classicist porch.
history
The church was planned on the site of the apparition of Mary on July 2, 1610 in the area of the former gardens, hence the name Madonna dell'Orto. At the place of the miraculous apparition there was already a pylon representing the Madonna with Saints Sebastian and Rocco, this was built by the inhabitants of Chiavaresis to ward off the plague that struck the citadel in 1493 and 1528.
The foundation stone of the church was laid on July 1, 1613. The construction work was first financed by the citizens and from 1628 by the Discalced Carmelites , who completed the building in 1633. They then added a monastery and looked after the building. The Carmelites had to leave the church in 1797 because of the suppression of the religious orders by Napoleon Bonaparte when the Ligurian Republic was proclaimed . In 1892 the Marian Shrine was after the establishment of the new diocese Chiavari by Pope Leo XIII. raised to the cathedral. Two years later it was consecrated in 1894 by the first Bishop of Chiavari, Fortunato Vinelli.
The church underwent significant architectural changes in the 19th century, such as B. the construction of the three naves , the mighty vestibule and new frescoes inside. The adjacent monastery was used as today's diocesan library and the seat of a religious school. On November 27, 1904, Pope Leo XIII. the cathedral to the rank of minor basilica. The renewed consecration of the enlarged cathedral took place on July 3, 1907.
architecture
In front of the gable facade of the cathedral rises a porch made of white marble in the form of a hexastyle pronaos , which is supported by eight smooth Corinthian columns , six of them in the front row. It was designed and constructed in 1836 by the Modenese architect Luigi Poletti, inspired by the Pantheon of Rome. The construction work lasted from 1841 to 1907. The facade was completed in 1938 with the addition of five bas-relief marble slabs depicting episodes from the life of the Virgin Mary; they were made by the sculptor Rodolfo Castagnino based on a design by the architect Luigi Daneri.
The interior of the basilica has a Latin cross plan and is divided into three naves by two rows of round arches resting on square pillars. The crossing dome rises on the transept , it is made in the typical Ligurian style with a lantern at the top. The campanile stands in the area of the apse and rings with eight bells in B major , cast by the Barigozzi brothers in Milan, with the exception of the smaller one cast by the Filippi foundry in Chiari.
Furnishing
The interior is richly decorated and equipped. The high altar from 1627 is the work of the architect Ferrandino, its altarpiece was made by Benedetto Borzone. The 17th century choir stalls come from the nearby Church of San Francesco. The sculptor Anton Maria Maragliano carved groups of figures.
One of the valuable preserved frescoes in the vault is the depiction of the apparition of Mary from 1610 with the old citadel of Chiavari in the background, painted in 1805 by Carlo Baratta. Other frescoes are by Francesco Gandolfi from 1868, as well as paintings by Giovanni Coppola from the same period. The pulpit, the marble and the stucco of the three naves come from Ludovico Pogliaghi, who painted them between 1909 and 1910. The two large windows in the apse depicting Saint Sebastian and Saint Rocco were made in 1928 by Costante Panigati based on drawings by Pogliaghi.
The cathedral organ was built in 1969 by the Marin brothers. Electrically transmitted, it has three organ bodies: one in the apse, hidden by the high altar, a second in the dome and a third in the opposite facade above the central portal. The instrument has three manuals.
literature
- Giovanni Meriana: Guida ai Santuari in Liguria. Sagep Editrice, Genova, 1990.
- Raimondo Spiazzi, Nostra Signora dell'Orto in Chiavari , Chiavari 1995.
- Barbara Bernabò, Chiavari , in Le Cattedrali e il popolo , a cura di Fulvio Cervini e Giovanna Mastrotisi, Viterbo, Rotary Club, 2009.
- Barbara Bernabò, La manifestazione della Madonna dell'Orto: testimonianze e documenti , Chiavari, Internòs Edizioni, 2010.
Web links
- Cathedral website (Italian)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Chiesa di Nostra Signora dell'Orto (Chiavari) (Italian)
- ↑ Cattedrale di Nostra Signora dell'Orto e di Montallegro on gcatholic.org
Coordinates: 44 ° 18 ′ 58.1 ″ N , 9 ° 19 ′ 26.2 ″ E