Salerno's cathedral, dedicated to San Matteo (Saint Matthew), is one of the finest Norman churches in southern Italy. It was built between 1076 and 1085 under the direction of Robert Guiscard — the Norman warlord who conquered much of southern Italy — and consecrated in the presence of Pope Gregory VII. The exterior is entered through a generous atrium, an open-air courtyard of ancient columns salvaged from the old Roman city, which gives the building a sense of antiquity and gravity before you have even crossed the threshold.
Inside, the nave is majestic: long, high-ceilinged, and richly decorated with mosaic floors and inlaid marble panels. The ambos — the raised pulpits for reading the Epistles and Gospels — are outstanding examples of Cosmatesque mosaic work. The crypt houses the relics of the Apostle Matthew as well as the tomb of Pope Gregory VII, giving the cathedral an outsized significance in church history that its modest exterior does not immediately suggest. The campanile alongside dates from the same Norman period and has become one of the visual symbols of the city.