Description of the attraction
Cathedral of San Lorenzo is the main Roman Catholic church in the small resort town of Alba in the Italian region of Piedmont, dedicated to the patron saint of the city, Saint Lawrence. Construction on the cathedral began in the 12th century, presumably on the ruins of an older building from the Roman era. It was built of red brick and was originally made in the Romanesque style, but today the appearance of the cathedral is dominated by the features of the Lombard Gothic. The cathedral was completed at the end of the 15th century with the direct participation of Bishop Andrea Novelli, but work on its decoration continued later, in particular, in 1512 the choir was decorated with wooden carvings.
The first reconstruction of San Lorenzo was carried out in 1652 after the cathedral building was significantly damaged during an earthquake - then the vault of the central nave collapsed. During the reconstruction, two side chapels were added to the cathedral - San Teobaldo and Santissimo Sacramento. Then the building was rebuilt in the 19th century according to the project of the architect Edoardo Arborio Mella, who changed the external appearance of the cathedral and its interior decoration. And in 2007, during the restoration in the space of the former baptistery, an extensive burial of the 16-18th centuries was discovered - about a hundred graves, most of which were for children.
The modern building of San Lorenzo is in the form of a Latin cross with three naves. The first chapel on the right is dedicated to the Holy Crucifixion, its altar is designed in the neo-Gothic style. On the walls can be seen works from the 18th century attributed to Pietro Paolo Operti and paintings by Agostino Cottolengo. The main organ of the cathedral was constructed in 1876 in Pavia.
