Civitavecchia Cathedral

Civitavecchia Cathedral, devoted to Saint Francis of Assisi, is the main church of the city. It is located in the historic center of Piazza Vittorio Emanuele and is site to the bishop's throne of the Diocese of Civitavecchia and Tarquinia. It is here where the Bishop usually celebrates the Holy Mass during recurring events and particular occasions.

HISTORY

The Cathedral was built over the remains of a small Franciscan church under the papacy of Paul V in 1610. Pope Clemens XIV had it rebuilt later, commissioning the architect Francesco Navone.

Completed definitively in 1782 under the papacy of Pope Pius VI, it became Cathedral from 1805.

After the bombings of 1943 it was seriously damaged and it was afterwards completely restored in 1950 with a project of the architect Plinio Marconi.

ART and ARCHITECTURE

Once you are in front of the Cathedral you will admirare its elegant and solid structure, the high baroque façade of double Ionic order with the only central gate from where a wide staircase goes down and fans out.

On the high floor, where the tympanum lays, the church is ornated with two big statues representing Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Anthony of Padua.

Once inside, the church presents a very beautiful shape, with its only one nave, decorated on the sides by symmetrical chapels hollowed out in the back, inserted between columns that, with their bases and rich capitals, they seem to be bearing the majestic royal vault that recovers the whole environment.

Worth noting, in a lateral chapel, on trhe right, there is a Nativity attributed to Domenico Zampieri known as Domenichino. Over the tympanum, instead, lay two big sculptural figures representing respectively the Faith and the Justice, work by Pietro De Laurentiis. Underneath the latest, you can see a fresco by Antonio Nessi representing Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata.

The Cathedral of Civitavecchia opens the Holy Door for the Jubilee of Mercy

On Sunday, December 13, Bishop Luigi Marrucci opened the Holy Door also in the Cathedral of Civitavecchia to start of the Jubilee of Mercy for the diocese Civitavecchia-Tarquinia.

The Holy Door, arranged by Mgr. Cono Firringa, parish priest of the cathedral, was restored for the occasion with the specific plaque of the Jubilee of Mercy.

Another chance for all citizens and for the many tourists of the Port of Civitavecchia who wish to experience Pope Francis' Holy Year without necessarily going to Roma.

CIVITAVECCHIA CATHEDRAL: MASS AND VISIT HOURS

If you want to visit the church and also attend the Holy Mass, in the box at the bottom of the page you will find at your fingertips all opening hours.