Photo: Sailko · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Concattedrale dei Santi Pietro e Paolo

Romanesque cathedral of Sovana (11th–12th century) with three naves, carved capitals and the crypt of San Mamiliano; it forms part of the Palazzo Orsini museum route.

Ask the museum for opening hoursAdmission €2

Directions

About the museum

The Concattedrale dei Santi Pietro e Paolo, also known as the Duomo di Sovana, stands in Sovana, in the municipality of Sorano, and is one of the most important religious buildings in the Maremma. It was built around the 11th and 12th centuries, probably on the site of an older church, and later altered and reworked. The Romanesque style predominates, with Lombard and Gothic elements, and its construction is linked to the expansion of the Aldobrandeschi family and to Pope Gregory VII, Ildebrando di Sovana. For a long time it was the seat of a bishop.

The main entrance opens on the side wall, beneath a stone arch decorated with sculptures. The interior has three naves divided by rows of columns that support arched vaults; the carved capitals show natural motifs, human faces and biblical scenes. The tufa walls alternate with inserts of marble, and before the altar, on the right, stands a 15th-century travertine baptismal font. At the summer solstice the first ray of sun enters through the single-light window of the apse and runs the full length of the nave.

In a small tufa crypt are the relics of San Mamiliano, bishop of Palermo, which can now be visited. Some works from the cathedral, such as a Madonna enthroned with the Child and angels attributed to Guidoccio Cozzarelli (1494), are displayed in the Museo di Palazzo Orsini in Pitigliano, of which the cathedral forms part of the visitor route.

Highlights

Romanesque cathedral with three naves from the 11th–12th century
Carved capitals with natural motifs, faces and biblical scenes
Crypt with the relics of San Mamiliano
15th-century travertine baptismal font
Ray of sunlight along the nave at the summer solstice

Permanent exhibition

Cattedrale e cripta di San Mamiliano – Visit to the Romanesque nave with the carved capitals and to the tufa crypt with the relics of San Mamiliano.