Gaeta Cathedral, more formally the Cathedral of Saints Erasmus and Marcian and St. Mary of the Assumption (), is the most important place of Catholic worship in Gaeta, Italy, mother church of the archdiocese of the same name and seat of the parish of Mary Most Holy Assumed into Heaven ().
The cathedral was built on the site of the older church of Santa Maria del Parco, beginning in the 9th century and enlarged several times. In the 13th century it assumed a seven-aisle structure that remained unaltered under later additions; major interventions were made in the 17th century, carried out by the Lazzari family, which rebuilt the present apse and the crypt dating from the end of the previous century, and in the last quarter of the 18th century, when to a design by Pietro Paolo Ferrara the interior assumed its present appearance.. The neo-Gothic facade was built in 1903-1904 and completed only in 1950.
The cathedral was elevated to the dignity of minor basilica by Pope Pius IX on December 10, 1848, while it has been an Italian national monument since January 18, 1941.
History
The cathedral of Santa Maria del Parco
In ancient times, the city of Gaeta fell under the jurisdiction of the diocese of Formia, according to tradition founded by 487.D. Mastrorilli, D. Quadrino, A. Vella, Gaeta tardoantica e altomedievale: topografia cristiana e arredo scultoreo, in Due to frequent Saracen raids, in the second half of the 8th century the bishopric was transferred to the safer city of Gaeta, joining its title to the Formian one starting in 787 with Bishop Campolo, which was permanently replaced from 867 with Bishop Rainulfo I.V. von Falkenhausen, Tra Roma e Napoli: Gaeta nel primo medioevo (VIII-XII secolo), in
The relics of St. Erasmus were brought to Gaeta in 842 by Bishop John III and placed in the pre-existing church of Santa Maria del Parco (probably the same church of Santa Maria extra portam mentioned in 831);P.F. Pistilli, Dalla Gaeta ducale alla Controriforma. Una cattedrale subordinata al culto del martire Erasmo, in this building probably already existed at the end of the 7th century,D. Mastrorilli, D. Quadrino, A. Vella, Gaeta tardoantica e altomedievale: topografia cristiana e arredo scultoreo, in and owed its appellation (placed to indicate an enclosed area) to its inclusion within the second city wall, built between the end of the 8th century and the beginning of the following one. The episcopal complex stood in a terraced area facing the harbor, near the ducal palace, in a densely built-up area, and had incorporated two horrea from the late Republican period built to serve the harbor itself. Below the podium on which the cathedral and episcope stood were several basements owned by Docibilis II (later passed in 954 to his son Marinus II) that had direct access to the outside; in the one below the altar of St. Eupuria was a cell entrusted since 978 to the rector of the hermitage of St. Michael the Archangel on Mount Altino.P.F. Pistilli, Dalla Gaeta ducale alla Controriforma. Una cattedrale subordinata al culto del martire Erasmo, in
With the discovery of the remains of St. Erasmus made by Bishop Bono (917), the cult of the saint grew, so much so that he became the patron saint of the city,V. von Falkenhausen, Tra Roma e Napoli: Gaeta nel primo medioevo (VIII-XII secolo), in recorded from 995 as the co-dedicatory of the cathedral.P.F. Pistilli, Dalla Gaeta ducale alla Controriforma. Una cattedrale subordinata al culto del martire Erasmo, in For this reason, Hypatos John II of Gaeta (933–963) planned a series of works (probably started in 954)G. Villa, Aspetti dell'urbanistica di Gaeta nel Medioevo (secc. VIII-XIII), in to give the martyr's relics a suitable location, purchasing a house contiguous to the cathedral to enlarge the church and build the new episcope.M. Dell'Omo, Le relazioni tra Gaeta e Montecassino nel Medioevo e oltre, in The cathedral gained further importance in 933 or 934 when Hypatos John, an imperial patrician and grandfather of John II, was buried there.
The cathedral in the 12th century
In 1003, Bishop Bernard, son of Marinus II, initiated the construction of the baptistery of St. John by purchasing a house located near the cathedral and thus beginning the “process of monumentalization of the northern front of the episcopal complex,” probably consisting of a series of staircases and loggias;G. Villa, Aspetti dell'urbanistica di Gaeta nel Medioevo (secc. VIII-XIII), in the designer of the baptistery was possibly Stefano, mentioned in a document of Bishop Leo IV in 1052; the same document describes the monumental access to the complex from the portico side, which took place with a double staircase: the one that led into the church and the one that, instead, through the underground vault reached the episcope.P.F. Pistilli, Dalla Gaeta ducale alla Controriforma. Una cattedrale subordinata al culto del martire Erasmo, in
Beginning with the reign of the Hypati John I (867–933) and his son Docibilis II (933–954), the church was enlarged, and again after 978, to be finally consecrated on January 22, 1106M. Dell'Omo, Le relazioni tra Gaeta e Montecassino nel Medioevo e oltre, in by Pope Paschal II and dedicated to St. Mary of the Assumption and St. Erasmus, and probably also to St. Marcian and St. Probus; this had a three-aisled structure with access facing the sea and was the place where Pope Gelasius II was consecrated on March 10, 1118.
In 1148 construction of the tall bell tower began on a design by Nicolangelo, a Roman, on land specially donated by the monk Pandolfo Pelagrosio. Work continued until 1180, reaching the top of the quadrangular tower. The apical dome with an octagonal base was added only in 1279 during the episcopate of Bartolomeo Maltacea.M. D'Onofrio, Un'aquila 'parlante' nel campanile della cattedrale di Gaeta, magister Nicolangelo e la cattedrale a sette navate, in
The present cathedral
In the 13th century, the cathedral was rebuilt with the opposite orientation to the original one, and a wider structure with seven aisles divided by thirty-six columns to which, over the centuries, others of smaller section were added to better support the structure;P.F. Pistilli, Dalla Gaeta ducale alla Controriforma. Una cattedrale subordinata al culto del martire Erasmo, in the left aisle of the first cathedral, although not in axis with the others, went to form the first right aisle of the new church. Regarding the unique layout of the building there are two main theses: the first considers the seven-aisled structure all built ex novo by 1256 following the powerful earthquake of June 1, 1213 by incorporating the 11th-century cathedral, and justifies the anomalous number of aisles as a workaround, through the multiplication of the number of aisles, to the impossibility of multiplying the number of bays due to the presence of pre-existing buildings and streets; the second, which draws on cases such as that of the cathedral of St. Andrew and the adjoining basilica of the Crucifix in Amalfi, sees it as the result of the union of two pre-existing buildings of worship of three aisles each (the 11th-century cathedral and a church parallel to it), joined after 1255M. D'Onofrio, Un'aquila 'parlante' nel campanile della cattedrale di Gaeta, magister Nicolangelo e la cattedrale a sette navate, in by means of an additional, purpose-built nave that would go on to form the central nave of the new cathedral.
Throughout the 13th century the building was enriched with valuable artifacts, including the column of the Easter candle and a pulpit; in 1303, on the occasion of the millennium of the death of St. Erasmus, a precious silver statue depicting the patron saint was commissioned.. It is probable that the earthquake of the central-southern Apennines in 1349 also damaged the cathedral of Gaeta, and that the decorative pictorial campaign of the late 14th century - to which the pieces of frescoes visible in the seventh nave bear witness - can be traced back to the restorations following that earthquake.E. Chinappi, Tracce della decorazione pittorica tardomedievale nella cattedrale di Gaeta, in
In the 15th and 16th centuries, the interior decoration of the church underwent some changes: the layout of the chancel was modified and a carved wooden choir was installed, as well as a first pipe organ of modest size.
As early as 1543, Bishop Antonio Lunello had decided to work on the apsidal area of the cathedral by enlarging it to the structures that had been built on the site of the ancient baptistery; however, the presence of the altar of the Holy Cross (placed to the left of the major one, which held the venerated relics of St. Eupuria) and the main access to the episcope, which was formed by the medieval subportico, delayed the work, which was probably never undertaken. The idea was taken up in 1569 by Antonio Lunello's nephew and successor, Pedro, but due to a dispute with the civic magistrate (who had exclusive patronage of the apse) it could not begin until 1584. The new apse, conforming to the dictates of the Council of Trent and adapted to the increased number of canons, was finished and consecrated in 1597, while the underlying crypt was only completed in 1607; at that juncture the two sacristies were also built.S. Roberto, Dalla Gaeta ducale alla Controriforma. Una cattedrale subordinata al culto del martire Erasmo, in In 1617 to raise the vault of the crypt the latter was, together with the apse, the subject of a radical interior makeover by Jacopo Lazzari, who was succeeded in 1644 by his son Dionisio, who in the 1680s was responsible for the construction of a new high altar in polychrome marble; it was not placed close to the back wall, but under the apsidal arch, while at the end of the apse there was a pipe organ on a special chancel, probably a duplicate of the one in the sanctuary of the Santissima Annunziata (built by Giuseppe de Martino in 1685-1689 and enlarged in 1737). Due to a lack of funds, the apse was provisionally covered with a hooded vault; it was not until 1775 that a masonry barrel vault was built, albeit lower than in the original design.
In 1725, the cathedral was also the seat of the parish of Santa Maria Assunta (which had a population of 310 and had been united in the 16th century with that of San Salvatore by Bishop Cardinal Tommaso De Vio) and the only baptismal font within Gaeta's city walls (corresponding to the present medieval old town) at which the various parish priests came to administer the sacrament of Baptism; in addition, there was a chapter consisting of an archpriest, an archdeacon, two primiceri, seventeen canons, eight hebdomadaries, and other clerics..
Beginning in 1788, at the behest of Ferdinand IV of Bourbon, the cathedral underwent a radical renovation designed by Pietro Paolo Ferrara: he did not demolish the old Gothic structure, but incorporated it within a neoclassical-style appearance; the floor plan was reduced from seven to three naves with side chapels, and the nave was covered with a coffered barrel vault, while the two side naves were covered with small domes. The renovated church was reconsecrated and opened for worship on May 28, 1793, by Bishop Gennaro Clemente Francone.