Novara Cathedral
The Cathedral of Novara ( Italian Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta or Duomo di Novara ) is the episcopal church of the Diocese of Novara . The originally Romanesque church building was largely rebuilt in the neoclassic style in the 19th century after it had already been converted to Baroque style in the 18th century . The cathedral is located in the city center of Novara in the Piazza della Repubblica . The building ensemble also includes a baptistery and the former bishop's palace, which later housed the cathedral chapter , as well as the cloister of the cathedral.
history
According to legend, the construction of the cathedral, the baptistery and the bishop's residence goes back to the first bishop Gaudentius of Novara (between 350 and 400). This first church was already under the patronage of the Virgin Mary .
Between the 11th and 12th centuries, the early medieval cathedral was demolished and replaced by a Romanesque church building. Pope Innocent II consecrated the new building on April 17, 1132. In front of the church, on the plan of a Latin cross with three naves and galleries, stood a four-sided portico , which was flanked by two towers.
From the 15th century the church was rebuilt again. In the 15th and 16th centuries, chapels were built along the side aisles. In 1580, two years after the transfer of Charles Borromeo to the Archbishopric of Turin, the old apse was demolished and replaced by a new rectangular choir on behalf of Bishop Francesco Bossi . At the beginning of the 1590s, Bishop Carlo Bascapè had a new high altar built and Bishop Benedetto Odescalchi, who later became Pope Innocent XI. , had the lantern restored in 1680 . In the 18th century, the cathedral was redesigned in Baroque style based on a design by Benedetto Alfieri , whereby the original structure was retained. Work ceased in 1792 and resumed in 1831 according to a design by the engineer Melchioni who created the new choir. The altar, consecrated in 1836 and later completed, was a design by the young architect Alessandro Antonelli , who between 1854 and 1855 created the plans for a fundamental renovation of the cathedral. In 1857 the four-sided colonnade was demolished and later rebuilt in the neoclassical design language. From 1865 the naves and the dome of the Romanesque cathedral were laid down.
However, the monumental project remained unfinished, the transept and choir were not executed as planned by Antonelli. From the medieval cloister of the cathedral monastery, which is located at the back of the building, one can see arches on the back of the 19th century facade, which give an idea of the planned part of the structure that they should have supported. The inauguration of the converted cathedral took place in 1869, but the interior was not completed until the 1880s. The monumental portico was built in 1890 by Antonelli's son Costanzo.
In recent times the cathedral has been extensively renovated both inside and out. The exterior restoration lasted twelve years and was completed in 2009 with the completion of the Romanesque bell tower. Work on the interior of the nave began in 2011 in the choir vault, continued in 2014 in the aisles and the side chapels and continued in the central nave until 2018.
description
Exterior
Along the side facing the Piazza della Repubblica , the building is bordered by a colonnade of smooth columns with Corinthian capitals. Here is also the access to the cloister, which is closed by a gate and surrounded by another colonnade. The entrance to the church is under a pronaos , which consists of four fluted columns, which are crowned with Corinthian capitals and support the triangular pediment. The two outer pillars are hollow and function as downpipes.
Interior
The interior of the cathedral has a height of about 35 meters, a length of 45 meters and a width of 14 meters. The space is defined by stucco columns of imitation marble in three naves divided. The central nave is spanned by a barrel vault, while the side aisles have a flat ceiling.
The presbytery partially preserves the old mosaic floor of the early Christian cathedral from 1132 with black and white stones in opus tessellatum with the depiction of Adam and Eve in the center and the four rivers of Paradise . There are two organs in the choir, the oldest of which is to the right of the altar.
Side chapels
The chapel ambience includes the following side chapels in a clockwise direction .
Chapel of San Giuseppe
The Chapel of San Giuseppe houses a painting on canvas by Carlo Francesco Nuvolone depicting the Adoration of the Magi . This picture was commissioned to replace an altarpiece created by Titian and lost in a fire in the 17th century.
Chapel of San Gaetano
This is followed by the Chapel of San Gaetano, which contains a panel painting from the 16th century by Sperindio Cagnoli depicting the Last Supper . Also located there is a reliquary bust that Bernard of Menthon represents.
Chapel of the Madonna delle Grazie
At the top of the north aisle is a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Grace . This patronage refers to the icon of Notre-Dame de Grâce, venerated in Cambrai .
Chapel of Sant'Agabio
In the chapel of Sant'Agabio, the alleged remains of St. Novara, remembered by a statue of the Collino brothers.
Chapel of San Lorenzo Martire
In the head chapel of the south aisle there is an altar dedicated to the martyr Laurentius .
San Benedetto Chapel
On the south aisle is the chapel dedicated to Benedict of Nursia with an altarpiece by Bernardino Lanino from 1575.
Chapel of Santa Caterina d'Alessandria
The chapel dedicated to Catherine of Alexandria contains a panel by Gaudenzio Ferrari depicting the " mystical wedding " of Catherine.
Chapel of the Madonna del Riscatto
The last of the chapels is the one dedicated to the Madonna of Salvation from 1728 with a group of sculptures by Giuseppe Rusnati.
Organs
The cathedral has three organs . One is on the Epistle page , the second on the Gospel page , and the third is an organ positive .
Organ on the epistle page
On the epistle side there is an organ with three manuals and a pedal . It was built in 1902 by Alessandro Mentasti and has 40 registers . The action is constructed mechanically and pneumatically and equipped with Bark levers . The wind pressure is normally 65 mm WS, with the high pressure registers 95 mm WS.
Disposition:
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- Coupling : II / I, I / P, II / P
Remarks
- H = high pressure register
Organ on the gospel side
On the Gospel page there is a small organ with a manual and attached pedal, which cannot be played due to defects in the wind mechanism. It is attributed to an organ builder from the Biroldi dynasty from Varese and shows a mechanical action. The work has divided registers , the division takes place between h 2 and c 3 . However, the instrument has undergone profound changes in its action and pipework. The tongue registers were replaced by labials and five notes from the F of the contra octave were completely removed.
The wind mechanism is located behind the organ back wall and consists of three large wedge bellows. A smaller bellows is located in the organ.
Disposition
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Original disposition
The following disposition can be deduced from the pipe inventory and the received inscriptions on the loops:
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Organ positive
The smallest instrument, known as the choral organ, was built by the Mascioni family of organ builders in 1986 as op. 1077 and was made available to the cathedral by a donor who had previously used it in his private apartment. It has a manual and a pedal with a mechanical action attached to the bass octave of the keyboard.
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Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta. Consulta Regionale del Piemonte - Beni Culturali Ecclesiatici, accessed January 6, 2020 (Italian).
- ↑ a b c Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta Novara. Rivolta Ponteggi, April 12, 2018, accessed January 6, 2020 (Italian, report from the restoration company).
- ↑ a b Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta: il più grande edificio di culto della città. Città di Novara, accessed January 6, 2020 (Italian).
- ^ Organo in Cornu Epistolae. In: Novaria. Fondazione Amici della Cattedrale di Novara, archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; accessed on January 6, 2020 (Italian).
- ↑ a b c Organo in cornu Evangelii. In: Novaria. Fondazione Amici della Cattedrale di Novara, archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; accessed on January 6, 2020 (Italian).
- ^ Organo Corale. In: Novaria. Fondazione Amici della Cattedrale di Novara, archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; accessed on January 6, 2020 (Italian).
Coordinates: 45 ° 26 ′ 45 ″ N , 8 ° 37 ′ 6 ″ E