Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception

Catanzaro's cathedral, rebuilt in the 1950s after the 1783 earthquake destroyed the original

Catanzaro's cathedral stands in Piazza Duomo at the heart of the historic upper city. The current building dates primarily from 1951 — rebuilt after the great 1783 earthquake that devastated much of the original medieval city, followed by further reconstructions after a 1832 quake, and the World War II bombing. What you see today is mid-century Italian ecclesiastical architecture rather than the medieval original.

The interior contains some surviving treasures from earlier churches: a polyptych by Pietro Negroni (16th century), which is one of the more important paintings in Calabria; and various accumulated pieces of silverwork and religious art. The piazza outside is a good place to understand Catanzaro's topography — the city spreads across a ridge with dramatic drops on both sides, and the cathedral square sits near the highest point.

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