The cathedral of San Pietro apostolo is Senigallia's duomo. It is the town's fifth cathedral: it was built between 1762 and 1790 to a design by the architect Paolo Posi, replacing a Jesuit church, and consecrated on 4 July 1790. The façade dates from the second half of the nineteenth century, wanted and paid for by Pope Pius IX, a native of Senigallia, to a design by Augusto Innocenti. The earthquakes of 1836, 1930 and 1997 required several restorations; the last kept the church closed for five years. In 1932 it was raised to minor basilica.
What to see
The interior is a Latin cross with three aisles divided by piers and a dome. The works include the Rest on the Flight into Egypt by Federico Barocci, the Madonna della Speranza by Ercole Ramazzani, Saint Paulinus and Saint Mary Magdalene by Domenico Corvi and the Assumption by Alessandro Tiarini; in the nave stands a large bronze statue of Pius IX.
The elliptical chapel of the Madonna della Speranza, by the architect Giuseppe Ferroni, opened on 29 April 1838: outside it has eight Corinthian columns in Sicilian jasper on yellow marble bases, inside the Madonna della Speranza, a copy or restoration of a canvas by Ramazzani of 1578. In the right-hand choir loft is an organ by Carlo Vegezzi Bossi of 1906.
Visiting
Mass and opening times should be checked with the diocese of Senigallia. In 1931 the church was also decorated with frescoes by Giovanni Marchini.
Our editors' tip
Ask to see the sacristy: it holds the sixth-century sarcophagus of Saint Gaudentius, with the symbols of the Evangelists at the corners of the lid; an inscription records that Bishop Sigismund placed the saint's relics in it in 590, later stolen in 1520 and taken to Ostra.
