Main Façade of the Duomo


The long inscription in two lines across the main façade reads:

ANNO MILLENO CENTENO TER MONO DENO
HAEC DOMUS ALMA
PATRIS CU[M] SANCTO FLAMINE  NATI
TEMPESTATE FAMIS
NIMIE CEPIT RENOVARI
A DOMINIO FACTO CALIXTO PRESULE MARCO
EXTITIT VIR MAGNUS LOTHOMUS ACTO COMARCHUS
QUOS CHRISTUS SALVET BENEDICAT ADIUVET
AMEN
 

This translates: "In 1133, the renewal of this noble dwelling of the Father and the one who was conceived by the Holy Spirit [ a reference to Christ and the Trinity] was begun, despite a famine, by Marco, whom Callistus [i.e. Pope Callistus II] had created bishop".  It then mentions two other men:

  • the “magnus Lothomus”, who must have been a prominent layman, perhaps a feudal magnate; and

  • the “comarchus Acto”, literally the mayor. 

    • Some authorities believe that Acto (Atto in Italian) was the architect or perhaps the leader of the construction project. 

    • Others believe that he was Count Atto, son of Lupo, who is documented in 1138 as a major patron of the Duomo.

This rebuilding of the ancient church began soon after Foligno became the seat of the bishopric.  The inscription proclaims the papal fidelity and orthodoxy of the community:

  • It honours Pope Callistus II, whose negotiation of the Concordat of Worms with the Emperor Henry V in 1122 had settled the long dispute between the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire.  
  • It also honours the Trinity.  This is probably a reflection of the controversy surrounding the teaching of the French monk, Peter Abelard, who had been forced to burn his unorthodox tract on the subject in 1121. 

The facade has been radically re-modled over the centuries:

  • The two side doors and the bifore windows above them are original. 
  • The upper tympanum was added in the 16th century. 
  • Much of the rest of the façade, including the central portal and the rose window, was rebuilt in 1904, albeit in the original style and using some original materials.  

Mosaic (1904)

Pope Leo XIII donated the mosaic in the tympanum, which was made in the mosaic workshop of the Vatican.  He is depicted kneeling before Christ enthroned, with SS Felician and Messalina.




Baptistery

The Gothic baptistery is to te left of the facade.  [Is this a replica?]

[Memorial to the fallen]



Proceed to the minor facade.