The cathedral of San Francesco d'Assisi is the main church of Civitavecchia and the seat of the diocese of Civitavecchia-Tarquinia. It faces piazza Vittorio Emanuele II, in the old town. It stands on the remains of a small Franciscan church built in 1610, under Pope Paul V; it was rebuilt at the wish of Pope Clement XIV, who entrusted the work to the architect Francesco Navone, and completed in 1782, under Pius VI.
What to see
The church has a tall Baroque façade with two Ionic orders, a single central door and a wide flight of steps. On top of the pediment rest two large statues of Faith and Justice by Pietro De Laurentiis; below the pediment is a fresco by Antonio Nessi of Saint Francis receiving the stigmata.
The interior has a single nave, without a transept. In a chapel on the right is a Nativity attributed to the school of Domenichino. During the Second World War the cathedral was badly damaged by the bombings of 1943, which destroyed much of the city, and it was fully restored in 1950 to a design by the architect Plinio Marconi.
Visiting
The cathedral is in piazza Vittorio Emanuele II. Opening and service times should be checked with the parish.
Our editors' tip
If you are interested in sacred music, inside there is a pipe organ built by the Pinchi firm of Foligno, which restored and enlarged it in the autumn of 2019.
