San Cassiano (Comacchio)
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San Cassiano is the main church in the town of Comacchio in the province of Ferrara in the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy . It was the cathedral of the Diocese of Comacchio, which was incorporated into the Archdiocese of Ferrara-Comacchio in 1986 , and is now a co- cathedral . It is named after the patron saint of the city, St. Kassian , named.
The church building and its history
The city of Comacchio had been the bishopric of the Diocese of Comacchio for over a thousand years. The origins of the cathedral go back to planning in the 7th century under Bishop Vincenco, who inaugurated the original building in 708. The cathedral was rebuilt in the 13th century. The ancient cathedral from the 8th century consisted of three naves. On both sides of the main nave there were six mighty columns with plinths and capitals that supported the arches between the main nave and the two aisles. Each capital bore the coat of arms of the lagoon city, on which a flounder is depicted.
After the building was demolished and fell into disrepair, a new one was built. Bishop Sigismondo Isei laid the foundation stone on March 25, 1659. The current building was built between 1694 and 1720, has a single nave, has twelve side chapels and is 62 meters by 30 meters. The cathedral has a barrel vault with no frescoes or decorations.
The separate bell tower is a little apart from the nave. It was built in 1754, collapsed in 1757 except for the massive round base made of so-called Istrian natural stone, was rebuilt in 1766, but remained unfinished. A hundred years later it was rebuilt; its current form dates from 1868.
The newly built bell tower had been a regionally important tourist attraction for decades, as the upper platform was accessible to the public via a spiral staircase and could be used as a viewing platform. Its function as a popular observation tower has since been lost because the staircase became dilapidated in the 20th century and had to be closed to the public.
In 2006 excavations were carried out in the vicinity of the cathedral. The archaeological relics found were shown from March 27 to June 28, 2009 in the exhibition 'L'Isola del Vescovo' (The Bishop's Island), held in the halls of the former S. Camillo Hospital.
Interior
The cathedral has a few sights, including
- Oil paintings and frescoes by Biagio Bovi (17th century)
- the 16th century statue of the patron saint, San Cassiano, located in a niche in the apse
- the wooden crucifix by a Ferrarese sculptor from the 17th century
- a 9th century sculpture depicting S. Lucia
- the organ completed in 1728 by the organ builder Gian Domenico Traeri from Modena
- the side chapel immediately to the right in front of the apse, which contains a walled-in sarcophagus and two walled-in panels with Latin inscriptions (the altar in this side chapel is a marble dummy made of wood).
The double-row choir stalls, a gift from Bishop D'Arcano, are also interesting.
Two-part oil painting set up next to the apse; Upper part: idealized representation of St. Cassiano, lower part: silhouette of the old lagoon town of Comacchio with access bridge, seen from the east (probably Ferrarese painting of the 17th or 18th century).
Walled-in sarcophagus in the side chapel immediately to the right of the apse.
Web links
Coordinates: 44 ° 41 ′ 45 " N , 12 ° 10 ′ 52.7" E