L'attuale edificio di culto venne costruito tra il 1486 e il 1517 in sostituzione della vecchia pericolante cattedrale dell'XI secolo, usata sia per scopi religiosi che politici, di cui rimasero solo il campanile, il portico della facciata con i suoi tre portali e la cripta.
L'antichità di questo complesso religioso è assai maggiore e scavi recenti hanno portato alla luce, in fondo alla navata destra, resti di una struttura ottagonale, probabilmente un battistero unito tramite un atrio ad una basilica paleocristiana.
La Cattedrale di San Lorenzo si trova, infatti, nella zona del foro di Alba Pompeiana, là dove in passato sorgeva un edificio pubblico romano.
Nei secoli successivi alla sua edificazione fu ancora oggetto di modifiche come il rifacimento della volta della navata centrale, crollata inseguito a due terremoti. L'ultima in ordine di tempo è la realizzazione del nuovo presbiterio, nel 2007.
Il Duomo di Alba è un edificio d'ispirazione gotica con una facciata a salienti in mattoni rossi suddivisa in tre sezioni verticali da pilastri quadrati situati in corrispondenza delle tre navate che simulano quattro torrette con finte caditoie sulla cima.
Semplice e severa, nonostante il grande rosone del 1870, le monofore laterali ed il pronao con tre arcate ogivali a sesto acuto, presenta quattro bassorilievi con i simboli degli evangelisti: l'angelo, il leone, il bue e l'aquila, le cui iniziali curiosamente formano la parola ALBA.
Sotto il rosone centrale è posta la statua di San Lorenzo, martire del IV secolo d.C. e patrono della Diocesi.
I portali d'ingresso risalgono al XII secolo e sono caratterizzati da arcature, decorazioni, traforie da capitelli con figure antropomorfe e motivi vegetali.
Alla sinistra dell'abside sorge la torre campanaria, costruita nel XIII secolo e modificata nel 1477. La sua principale caratteristica è quella d'inglobare al suo interno un secondo campanile.
La struttura ha quattro ordini di finestre: monofore, bifore e quadrifore ed è coperta da una cuspide in mattoni a pianta ottagonale.
L'interno della Cattedrale di San Lorenzo è a croce latina a tre navate ciascuna formata da quattro campate.
Lungo le navate laterali si trovano sei cappelle, tre per ciascun lato. Le prime due sono la Cappella del Santo Crocifisso con altare di Mella in stile neogotico, a destra, e la Cappella del Battistero, a sinistra, con un fonte battesimale in marmo scuro.
Le cappelle del transetto, più profonde, sono dedicate, quella a destra, al SS. Sacramento con ardite soluzioni barocche, e a San Teobaldo, quella di sinistra, con un altare monumentale caratterizzato da elementi lignei e marmorei.
Il presbiterio, sopraelevato, ha le pareti laterali interamente dipinte con quattro grandi pitture monocrome su San Lorenzo realizzate da Cherubino Luigi Hartman e da medaglioni con immagini di Santi e Beati.
L'altare maggiore, in stile barocco, ha prezionsi marmi intarsiati. Nell'abside poligonale abbellito da vetrate policrome trova spazio il coro ligneo del 1512 i cui schienali riportano intarsi di oggetti sia sacri che profani, come città, ambienti urbani, colline. In alto è possibile ammirare la Pala di San Lorenzo eseguita nel 1766 dal pittore Claudio Francesco Beaumont.
Ciò che colpisce di più accedendo alla Cattedrale di San Lorenzo sono le alte volte dipinte a cielo stellato con uno sfondo blu intenso, i pilastri polistili decorati a bande orizzontali panna e sabbia tanto slanciate da sostenere archi a sesto acuto ed il mix di stili, dal neogotico al barocco, che ne valorizzano l'insieme.
San Lorenzo Cathedral - Alba
One of the main monuments overlooking Piazza Risorgimento, the heart of the historic center of Alba, is the Cathedral of San Lorenzo, located near the Town Hall.
The current building of worship was built between 1486 and 1517 to replace the old perilous 11th century cathedral, used for both religious and political purposes, of which remain only the bell tower, the portico of the facade with its three portals and the crypt.
The antiquity of this religious complex is much greater and recent excavations have brought to light, at the bottom of the right nave, remains of an octagonal structure, probably a baptistery joined by an atrium to an early Christian basilica.
The Cathedral of San Lorenzo is in fact located in the area of the forum of Alba Pompeiana , where once stood a Roman public building
In the centuries it was still subject of changes such as the remaking of the vault of the central nave, which collapsed following two earthquakes. The last in order of time is the construction of the new presbytery, in 2007.
The Cathedral of Alba is a Gothic-inspired building with a red brick salient facade divided into three vertical sections by square pillars located in correspondence of the three naves that simulate four turrets with fake drains on the top.
Simple and severe, despite the large rose window dated 1870, the single lancet windows and the pronaos with three pointed arches, it has four bas-reliefs with the symbols of the evangelists: the angel, the lion, the ox and the eagle, whose initials curiously form the word ALBA .
Under the central rose window there is the statue of San Lorenzo, martyr of the 4th century AD and patron of the Diocese.
The entrance portals date back to the 12th century and are characterized by arches, decorations, traces of capitals with anthropomorphic figures and plant motifs.
To the left of the apse stands the bell tower, built in the thirteenth century and modified in 1477. Its main feature is that it incorporates a second bell tower inside.
The structure has four rows of windows: mullioned windows, mullioned windows and four-light windows and is covered by an octagonal brick cusp.
The interior of the Cathedral of San Lorenzo is a Latin cross with three naves each formed from four spans.
Along the side aisles there are six chapels, three on each side. The first two are the Chapel of the Holy Crucifix with Mella altar in neo-Gothic style, on the right, and the Chapel of the Baptistery, on the left, with a dark marble baptismal font.
The chapels of the transept, deeper, are dedicated, the one on the right, to the SS. Sacramento with bold baroque solutions, and to San Teobaldo, the one on the left, with a monumental altar characterized by wooden and marble elements.
The raised presbytery has side walls entirely painted with four large monochrome paintings about San Lorenzo life made by Cherubino Luigi Hartman and medallions with images of Saints and Blesseds.
The high altar, in Baroque style, has precious inlaid marbles. In the polygonal apse embellished with polychrome glass windows there is the wooden choir of 1512 whose backs bear inlays of both sacred and profane objects, such as cities, urban environments, hills. Above, it is possible to admire the San Lorenzo Altarpiece made in 1766 by the painter Claudio Francesco Beaumont.
What is most striking when you enter into the Cathedral of San Lorenzo are the high painted vaults starry sky with an intense blue background, the polystyle pillars decorated with cream and sand horizontal bands so slender to support pointed arches and the mix of styles, from neo-Gothic to Baroque, which enhance the whole.
One of the main monuments overlooking Piazza Risorgimento, the heart of the historic center of Alba, is the Cathedral of San Lorenzo, located near the Town Hall.
The current building of worship was built between 1486 and 1517 to replace the old perilous 11th century cathedral, used for both religious and political purposes, of which remain only the bell tower, the portico of the facade with its three portals and the crypt.
The antiquity of this religious complex is much greater and recent excavations have brought to light, at the bottom of the right nave, remains of an octagonal structure, probably a baptistery joined by an atrium to an early Christian basilica.
The Cathedral of San Lorenzo is in fact located in the area of the forum of Alba Pompeiana , where once stood a Roman public building
In the centuries it was still subject of changes such as the remaking of the vault of the central nave, which collapsed following two earthquakes. The last in order of time is the construction of the new presbytery, in 2007.
The Cathedral of Alba is a Gothic-inspired building with a red brick salient facade divided into three vertical sections by square pillars located in correspondence of the three naves that simulate four turrets with fake drains on the top.
Simple and severe, despite the large rose window dated 1870, the single lancet windows and the pronaos with three pointed arches, it has four bas-reliefs with the symbols of the evangelists: the angel, the lion, the ox and the eagle, whose initials curiously form the word ALBA .
Under the central rose window there is the statue of San Lorenzo, martyr of the 4th century AD and patron of the Diocese.
The entrance portals date back to the 12th century and are characterized by arches, decorations, traces of capitals with anthropomorphic figures and plant motifs.
To the left of the apse stands the bell tower, built in the thirteenth century and modified in 1477. Its main feature is that it incorporates a second bell tower inside.
The structure has four rows of windows: mullioned windows, mullioned windows and four-light windows and is covered by an octagonal brick cusp.
The interior of the Cathedral of San Lorenzo is a Latin cross with three naves each formed from four spans.
Along the side aisles there are six chapels, three on each side. The first two are the Chapel of the Holy Crucifix with Mella altar in neo-Gothic style, on the right, and the Chapel of the Baptistery, on the left, with a dark marble baptismal font.
The chapels of the transept, deeper, are dedicated, the one on the right, to the SS. Sacramento with bold baroque solutions, and to San Teobaldo, the one on the left, with a monumental altar characterized by wooden and marble elements.
The raised presbytery has side walls entirely painted with four large monochrome paintings about San Lorenzo life made by Cherubino Luigi Hartman and medallions with images of Saints and Blesseds.
The high altar, in Baroque style, has precious inlaid marbles. In the polygonal apse embellished with polychrome glass windows there is the wooden choir of 1512 whose backs bear inlays of both sacred and profane objects, such as cities, urban environments, hills. Above, it is possible to admire the San Lorenzo Altarpiece made in 1766 by the painter Claudio Francesco Beaumont.
What is most striking when you enter into the Cathedral of San Lorenzo are the high painted vaults starry sky with an intense blue background, the polystyle pillars decorated with cream and sand horizontal bands so slender to support pointed arches and the mix of styles, from neo-Gothic to Baroque, which enhance the whole.
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