Crema Cathedral

Crema Cathedral (Duomo di Crema, Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Crema, northern Italy. Dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, it is the seat of the Bishop of Crema.

History
The first cathedral in the town was destroyed by Frederick Barbarossa in 1160. A new building was begun in 1185, but construction was halted in 1212, not to begin again until 1284 but in Gothic style. The church was finished in 1340, with the addition in 1385 of a lengthened apse and a crypt.

The façade is in typical Lombard Gothic style, with a single portal surmounted, in the lunette, by sculptures of the Madonna and Child and Saints Pantaleon and John the Baptist over a frieze with the faces of saints. Over the portal is a large marble rose window, flanked by mullioned windows. The façade terminates in a loggia with small marble columns.

The bell tower, on the right side, dates to the 14th century, while the octagonal upper part is from the 17th century.

The Gothic interior has a nave and five aisles. <!--==Before the year 1000== Define the construction events before the year 1000, in the absence of documents, it is impossible. Roman artifacts found during the restoration of the years the 1952nd - 1959 make feasible the presence here of an ancient pagan temple. According to tradition the place where stood Cream was present since early Christian times a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Meuse: it can not be verified but it is very likely: we are on a hill in ancient protected to the north and south by rivers' natural water (then called Cream ditch, canal Rino, Cresmiero or Travacone) colatori the swamp of Moso around him northwest. In addition to the east the land down to the vagaries of the Serio. An easily defensible and therefore ideal to welcome the refugees of the city of Parasso ( Palazzo Pignano ), then if around the church there was already a village or established themselves, it is not verifiable.

The Cathedral of the eleventh century
In ' XI century there is a large church, the size almost equal to the current one: the remains can be traced beneath the floor of the building. It is mentioned in two documents of 1098 and 1143 as Ecclesia Sancte and Mary had three naves with pillars Composite ending at the bottom with three apses semicircular. Probably, like most of the churches of the time, had a nave higher with trusses exposed and aisles with vaults. Under the base of the tower, however, stand the remains of a small altar with a base sinking of 40 cm from the floor of the old cathedral, and here there are traces of a fresco with the lower ends of three figures made by hand archaic perhaps even more ancient than this Romanesque church.

From 1185 to 1341
Museum of cream, especially in the center of the city with the cathedral, in the ceramic reproduction of Desegno et de Cream of Cremascho, the oldest map of Crema dating back to the fifteenth century After the historic siege much of the Romanesque cathedral was destroyed, but it was the same Barbarossa to inaugurate the reconstruction of the 7 May 1185, during which we focused on the apse, on ' triumphal arch and the new sacristy. At that time the fortified town was under the jurisdiction of the bishop of Piacenza, but in 1212 it came under the Diocese of Cremona that blocked all forms of funding and the work was stopped. With the return to the diocese of Piacenza, in 1284, the reconstruction times. The elevation of the new church in its entirety lasted for 57 years since there were many interruptions because of the wars between Guelphs and Ghibellines. Between the XII and XIII century was built the bell tower and southern apse was later also as a lookout tower is under the brief rule of Benzoni is under the rule of the Venetian Republic.

From 1341 to 1580
In 1410 it was demolished the old church of St. John was leaning on the north side of the cathedral and survived the destruction of the Roman church also having the function baptistery. With a splash of Pope Pius II in 1459 the provost was moved from Palazzo Pignano in Crema and this resulted in the enlargement of the choir. During the fifteenth century was set up the altar of St. Ambrose, and then called San Marco , titration significant because it took place in 1456 , only seven years after the passage of cream under the Venetian rule. Occasion was moved to the crucifix miraculous placed here, replaced by terracotta altarpiece of Augustine de Fondutis now disappeared. Another altar was added by decision of the General Council in 1456 and dedicated to St. Sebastian. Between '400 and '500 was dug the crypt with consequent elevation of the floor of the presbytery. It dates back to 1520 the construction of the altar of Our Lady of Mercy, while in 1522 it was rebuilt 's body (by Gian Battista Facchetti) to replace the previous one dating back to 1477. One of the pinnacles of the apical side fell to the ground in 1578, killing the clerk, and the result was their demolition. In 1580 Pope Gregory XIII elevated Cream seat of the diocese and the cathedral became a cathedral.

From 1580 to the eighteenth-century restorations
The cathedral in 1891, no pinnacles, with the southern wall smashed chapels eighteenth century and the curious windows "bean". A new organ was installed on the counter in 1647. In 1709 the chapel was breached apse left, increasing the volume and allocating dome: the project was James Avanzini and the decoration was done by James Parravicini said Gianolo with the help of the Big Brothers and finally, there was finally placed the miraculous crucifix. Between 1776 and 1780 took a radical transformation of the interior, similar to when you did in many other medieval churches, the taste of poorly tolerated simplicity of Lombard Gothic style and the architect Giacomo Zaninelli (in collaboration with the architect Barnabite Ermenegildo Pini and decorator Trevigliese Orlando Bencetti) transformed the appearance of the inside of the church forms in Baroque. Among the tasks performed: the raising of the floor, the construction of footings to reduce the height of the columns, the elimination of capitals in stone, the breakthrough of the perimeter wall right for the installation of new altars and the opening of windows the form of a "bean", the frescoes were destroyed three quattocenteschi; s'intervenne also the chapel of the Crucifix, rebuilt by just a few decades, which was redecorated.

From 1780 to today
The Archbishop of Milan, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini between the Bishop of Crema Msgr. Placido Maria Cambiaghi and the mayor of Crema Giacomo Cabrini during the inauguration of the end of the restoration of the Cathedral of Crema. Photo Marinoni by the newspaper " La Provincia "on Tuesday 28 April 1959. By the end of the nineteenth century was undertaken a discussion aimed at assessing the possibility of removing the baroque superstructure, was also consulted the architect Luca Beltrami, but nothing came of it.

Between 1913 and 1916 under the direction of the architect and the engineer Emilio Cecilio Arpesani Gussalli there was an intervention on the façade with the replacement of certain columns and restore some crockery. Above all, they were restored three pinnacles tips. In 1935 it was demolished wing of the episcopal palace adjoining the church, built in 1587. Major works were carried out between 195 and 2 1958 : with the intent to eliminate th-century additions: the whole work was entrusted to the architect Amos Edallo. The professional who had the collaboration of Conrad Verga, addressed the problem halfway between restoration and renovation style, facing the findings emerging from time to time without prior decisions, for example, had always debated until the time of the restoration if the semicircular apses were old or flat, the discovery of the foundations was unequivocal and the apse was rebuilt flat. Were used in ancient bricks from the same project or redone by hand according to ancient techniques by the artisan Emilio Jachetti Castelleone using ground Ombriano, whose mixture allowed to get close to the brick color of the ancient ones. Were eliminated windows "bean" and restored mullioned windows, the ceiling of the vault was lowered and rebuilt in reinforced concrete, the presbytery was covered with Carrara marble and a new altar was placed in Candoglia marble. It also intervened on the floor in restoring the earthenware dating from the fifteenth or sixteenth century (with some parts redone with the same style and technique). The official inauguration took place on 26 April 1959 in the presence of the Cardinal of Milan, Giovanni Battista Montini (the future Pope Paul VI ).

An intervention was drafted in 1979 to comply with the dictates of the council ; occasion a new altar was placed by Mario Toffetti. Between 1983 and 1984 was performed according to a restoration of the bell tower designed by architects Ermentini. A visit to the famous cathedral was in 1992 when I visited Pope John Paul II.

Between 2004 and 2005 a new chapel was set up behind the ancient crypt of the cathedral in order to collect the tombs of bishops buried here: was commissioned by Archbishop Angelo Paravisi (which has not seen the finished work) and was inaugurated on September 2 2005.

In 2010 started conservative restorations that should be completed in 2012 .-->