Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta (Duomo di Savona)

The Cathedral of the Assumption is located in the heart of the historical center of the city. The first Cathedral, dating from the ninth century, was destroyed by Genoeses. In 1559, Pope Paul IV erected as Cathedral the Church of St. Francis, whose cloister still exists on the left side of the current building, designed by Battista Sormano. The building has a Latin cross plant with three naves: the central body is covered by barrel vaults, the aisles by crossed vaults. The bell tower, on the right side, was finished in 1929. The eighteenth-century portal, work by Giovanni Antonio Cybei, is decorated with the depiction of the Assumption and incorporated in the Neo-Baroque facade of Guglielmo Calderini (1881-1886). Inside, stands the fresco "Jesus turning the traders from the Temple", by Coghetti, the author of the frescoes of the vault, the presbytery and the dome. The chapels, richly decorated, contain very important works of art ("The Apparition of the Virgin in Savona", by Ratti; the "Sacred Heart", by Paolo Gerolamo Brusco; an "Adoration of the Magi" and the "Martyrdom of Saint 'Orsola"). The main altar is from 1765, topped by an octagonal ciborium, work of Grassi. The Cathedral houses several relics of Saint Martyr Valentine, patron Saint of lovers.