Description of the attraction
The Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, located in the Cathedral Square in the historic center of Ventimiglia, is one of the city's largest religious sites. According to some historical documents, the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary was built between the 11th and 12th centuries on the ruins of a pre-existing Carolingian cathedral. The latter, in turn, was erected on the site of an ancient pagan temple dedicated to Juno, according to local legends.
In the early Middle Ages, the cathedral had a single nave, and only in the 12th century it was completely rebuilt and received two side chapels. The construction of a portal with pointed arches, three apses (large and two small) and a presbytery dates back to the 13th century. At the same time, the roof of the church was replaced by semi-cylindrical vaults with semi-columns in the Romanesque style.
To the side of the left small apse is a baptistery dedicated to Saint John the Baptist (San Giovanni Battista) and dated to the same time as the cathedral. It has the shape of an octagon and was divided into two levels in the 17th century. On the lower, along the perimeter of which there are 8 niches, a 13th century baptismal font and an even older bowl in the shape of a mortar were installed, while the upper level was occupied by the Baroque chapel of Santissimo Sacramento. Between 1967 and 1969, the Ventimiglia Cathedral was meticulously restored and reopened to the public. Its interior today is adorned with a 14th-century painting of the Madonna and Child by Barnaba da Modena, while the De Giudici Chapel contains the 17th-century painting "Assumption of the Virgin Mary" by Giovanni Carlone. It is also worth paying attention to the organ, created in 2008 from parts of an older organ.
