✨ Orvieto Cathedral
Italy
About This Sacred Site
The Cathedral of Orvieto is one of the great Gothic churches of central Italy, built to commemorate the Miracle of Bolsena in 1263, when a doubting priest saw the communion host bleed onto the corporal cloth during Mass. Pope Urban IV, who was in Orvieto at the time, commissioned the cathedral and established the Feast of Corpus Christi in response. The façade, with its golden mosaics, sculpted reliefs, and rose window, is considered one of the masterpieces of Italian Gothic architecture. Inside, the Chapel of San Brizio contains Luca Signorelli's frescoes of the Last Judgment, which influenced Michelangelo.
Key Facts
- •Built to house the bloodstained corporal from the Miracle of Bolsena (1263)
- •The miracle led Pope Urban IV to establish the Feast of Corpus Christi
- •Signorelli's Last Judgment frescoes in the San Brizio Chapel influenced Michelangelo
- •The golden mosaic façade is considered the finest in Italian Gothic art
- •Over 150 sculptors, painters, and architects worked on the cathedral over 300 years
Location
Coordinates: 42.7178, 12.1128
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