Duomo (rebuilt 1640-80) 

The original Duomo of Amelia, which was dedicated to San Lorenzo, was built in the 6th century, almost certainly outside the city walls.  In ca. 862, Bishop Pasquale translated the relics of SS Firmina and Olympiades and those of St Himerius to what was probably a new church dedicated to these saints, which stood on this site at the highest point in the city.  It had a baptistery opposite, as recorded in the inscription over the portal opposite, at the far left of the facade of Palazzo Vescovile (see the walk).

The church was subsequently rebuilt twice:

• in 1245 after Emperor Frederick II had desecrated it in 1240 and destroyed the baptistery; and
  

• in 1640 - 80, after a fire in 1629. 

The ancient crypt was destroyed in this second rebuilding, when the new presbytery was built at the same level as the nave. 

The façade was destroyed again in 1832, this time by an earthquake, and was rebuilt in 1887.

Interior

The column to which St Firmina was reputedly tied during her martyrdom, which came from the ancient crypt, is now preserved to the left of the counter-facade.  The fresco (17th century) on the ceiling of the nave shows St Firmina as the protectress of Amelia and of Civitavecchia, the port of Rome. 

A wooden Crucifix (16th century)  that Pope John Paul II gave to the Duomo in 1986  is kept in the chapel in the left transept.  It is a copy of a Crucifix that Alessandro Geraldini installed in the Cathedral of Santa Domingo in 1523, and symbolises the evangelisation of the New World.

Bapistery

Image courtesy of Signor Alessandro Geraldini

This chapel is the 1st on the left.  The monument to Giovanni Geraldini (1476), which is by Agostino di Duccio, was moved to its current location on the right wall in 1902.  It was originally in the chapel that Giovanni Geraldini had commissioned in San Francesco.  (Go to the page on the Geraldini Family for biographical details of Giovanni Geraldini).

The monument was badly reconstructed when it was moved here.  In the present arrangement, reliefs of the three Theological Virtues and the Madonna and Child are mounted on the wall above the effigy, with another relief of the blessing St John the Baptist above.

Cappella dell' Assunta

This chapel is in the left transept.

Image courtesy of Signor Franco della Ro

The venerated altarpiece, which depicts the ascending Virgin and angels, is usually covered and kept in the Cappella dell’ Assunta in the left transept.  It is displayed on the high altar in May and for a week in August.  Scientific examination has placed it in the early 15th century: this rules out  the sometimes alleged attribution toDuccio di Buoninsegna, and it is therefore more commonly  attributed to the otherwise unknown Maestro dell’ Assunta di Amelia.   The predella depicts two prophets  flanked by SS Bernard (on the left) and Bonaventure, both of whom championed the doctrine of the Assumption of the Virgin.

The earliest surviving documantary reference to the panel dates to 1573, when it was in a chapel that belonged to the Moriconi  family.   This suggests that it had been commissioned during the reign of Bishop Andrea Moriconi (1409 - 25).  In 1703, after Amelia had survived the earthquake that devastated much of the surrounding area, the citizens sought papal approval for the coronation of the image, and this was solemnly carried out in 1745. 

Presbytery

The relics of SS Firmina and Olympiades, which had been moved from the old Duomo as the Emperor Frederick II approached, are now preserved under the high altar (1648). 

A  fresco of the martyrdom of St Firmina (15th century) is preserved in a lunette to the left of the presbytery.

Cappella di San Giuseppe

This chapel in the right transept originally belonged to the Confraternita del Corpo di Christo, when it was dedicated as the Cappella del Santissimo Sacramento.  The confraternity commissioned the damaged altarpiece (1538) of the Last Supper that is now on the left wall from Giovanni Francesco Perini.  It is the only one of his five documented works to survive.

Cappella Farrattini (16th century) 

This octagonal funerary chapel (2nd on the right) is usually attributed to Antonio Sangallo the Younger, the architect of Palazzo Farrattini.  It seems likely that Bartolomeo II Farrattini, who commissioned Palazzo Farrattini, also commissioned this chapel.  The monuments of Bartolomeo II and his brother Baldo and the chapel altarpiece (see below) form an integral composition, suggesting that all three works were part of the original design.  It is possible that Bartolomeo commissioned them on the death of his brother Baldo in 1563.

Two Turkish standards that were captured at the Battle of Lepanto (1571)  (or perhaps at the Battle of Candia in 1656) are displayed in its entrance.   (Pirro Geraldini and Stefano Cansacchi, both of whom came from prominent families in Amelia, are known to have served in the papal victory at Lepanto.) 

Monument to Baldo Farrattini (1563)
Baldo Farrattini became Bishop of Amelia in 1558, resigning in 1562 just before his death.  He was also an inluential figure in the Roman Curia. 

His monument on the right was the first important commission of Ippolito Scalza, and is his only important work outside Orvieto.  He might have secured the commission on the recommendation of his master Raffaello da Montelupo.  The deceased, who lies in effigy on top of the sarcophagus, seems to be asleep with his head resting on his hand. 

Monument to Bartolomeo Farrattini (16th century)

Bartolomeo II Farrattini (died 1574) was Bishop of Chiusi and a member of the Roman Curia.  He probably commissioned his monument on the left wall before he died. 

The monument is usually attributed to Ippolito Scalza, but it seems actually to have been executed by Giovanni Antonio Dosio, a  fellow-student of Raffaello da Montelupo.  The deceased, who lies in effigy on top of the sarcophagus, is shown awake and gazing at the chapel altarpiece (see below), which contains an image of his name saint.

Farrattini Altarpiece (ca. 1560)
The altarpiece by Taddeo Zuccari depicts the Madonna and Child with SS Peter and Bartholomew. 

Bust of Cardinal Bartolomeo III Farrattini (early 17th century)

Bartolomeo III Farrattini succeeded Baldo, his uncle, as Bishop of Amelia, resigning in 1571.  He then built Palazzo Farrattini in Piazza di Spagna, Rome.  He was made a cardinal in 1606 but died before he could receive his red hat of office.  He was originally buried in the chapel, and this bust on the left probably came from his monument.

Cappella Mandosi

This chapel (the 1st on the right) belonged to the family of Ruggero Mandosi, who was Bishop of Amelia for forty years until his death in 1484.  His monument (ca. 1484) is mounted on the left wall of the chapel, although it was probably designed as a floor tomb in the earlier church.  It is somewhat uncertainly attributed to Agostino di Duccio: if this is correct, it was one of Duccio's last work.

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