The cathedral or duomo of Piacenza is dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta and Santa Giustina. It is an important example of Romanesque architecture in Italy and was built between 1122 and 1233.
The architecture of the Cathedral
The construction of the bell tower, on the other hand, continued until 1333, and in 1341, a gilded copper sculpture depicting an angel called Angil dal Dom was placed at its top, which is still there today. The religious building has a grandeur with simple and majestic features, marked by an austere and balanced artistic elegance.
The gabled façade, made of sandstone and pink Verona marble, has three portals with bas-reliefs, some of which are the work of pupils of Wiligelmo and Nicolò.
The interior of the Cathedral
The interior has a Latin cross plan, with three naves divided by twenty-five massive pillars. The transept is also divided into three naves and at the intersection there is an octagonal lantern tower, decorated with 17th-century frescoes.
Inside, noteworthy features include the panels depicting the medieval guilds (which contributed financially to the construction of the cathedral), the magnificent apse frescoes by Camillo Procaccini and Ludovico Carracci (17th century), and the Baptistery chapel with its early Christian font.
The Greek cross crypt, with 108 Romanesque columns, preserves the venerated relics of Saint Justina (co-patron saint of Piacenza together with Saint Antoninus), to whom the first cathedral, destroyed by the earthquake of 1117, was dedicated.
Frescoed dome
The Dome of Guercino, painted by one of the greatest Emilian artists of all time, is located inside the Cathedral of Piacenza.
Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, known as Guercino, was born in Cento in 1591 and lived most of his life in Bologna. The Emilian artist is a figure with few folkloric traits – except for his squint, which gave him the nickname by which we know him – but this does not mean he is unloved by the general public.
In Piacenza, Guercino created one of his masterpieces, frescoing the dome of the Cathedral between 1626 and 1627. It is a monumental work of great scope.
Here, Pier Francesco Mazzucchelli, known as Morazzone, began painting the Prophets in 1625, but died after completing only the first two segments. In 1626, Guercino took over and completed the other six sections of the dome (the prophets Haggai, Hosea, Zechariah, Ezekiel, Micah and Jeremiah), the lunettes alternating episodes from the childhood of Jesus with eight fascinating Sibyls, and the frieze of the drum.
Since the frescoes are so far away from the ground that it is almost impossible to appreciate them properly, in order to enhance and make the prophets and sibyls more accessible, the Guercino a Piacenza event saw the creation of a staircase inside the dome, which is still accessible today.
Practical information:
Maximum height of the route (dome): 27 metres
Number of steps: 136.
Access to the dome is located at Via Prevostura 7, at the rear of the Cathedral, where you can also access the Kronos Museum.