On November 13, 1290, Pope Nicholas IV laid the foundation stone of an edifice commissioned by Pope Urban IV to house the Corporal of Bolsena. According to tradition, this altar cloth was stained with blood in 1263 when a traveling priest doubting transubstantiation witnessed a bleeding Host. Built atop a volcanic plug to replace the older churches of Santa Maria and San Costanzo, the structure was elevated to a minor basilica by Pope Leo XIII in January 1889 and serves as the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Orvieto-Todi.
What to see
The exterior walls display alternating layers of local white travertine and blue-grey basalt, leading to a monumental tricuspidate golden facade. Initially designed as a Romanesque basilica under chief-mason Fra Bevignate, the project shifted to Sienese Gothic under Giovanni di Uguccione and Lorenzo Maitani. Between 1325 and 1330, Maitani established the facade's structure and carved the outer bas-reliefs on the lower piers, depicting the Book of Genesis and the Last Judgment. The inner piers feature the Tree of Jesse and New Testament stories, executed by anonymous masters. Above the bronze Evangelist symbols sits the focal point: a 22-sided polygon rose window created by Orcagna between 1354 and 1380. Its frame contains 52 carved heads, centered on a head of Christ, and is flanked by Piero di Puccio's 1388 mosaics of the four Doctors of the Church. The upper niches, completed with Renaissance elements by Antonio Federighi in the 1450s, house statues of apostles and prophets. The facade's mosaics illustrate the life of the Virgin Mary, based on designs by Cesare Nebbia and Giuseppe Ottaviani following centuries of replacements. Access is through three 1970 bronze doors by Emilio Greco, depicting the mercies of Christ, surmounted by Andrea Pisano's 1347 Madonna and Child sculpture. Final touches to the spires were added by architects like Michele Sanmicheli and Ippolito Scalza in the late 16th century.
The cruciform interior comprises a nave with six bays and two side aisles. Near the left entrance stands a large marble baptismal font, begun in 1390 by Luca di Giovanni and completed in 1407 with a red marble basin and octagonal pyramid. Nearby is the only fresco to survive later purges: Gentile da Fabriano's 1425 Maestà. The stone-vaulted transept contains the Chapel of the Corporal (1350–1356) and the Chapel of San Brizio (1408–1444). In November 2019, sixteen monumental statues of Apostles and Patron Saints, sculpted between 1556 and 1722 during Girolamo Muziano's Counter-Reformation updates, were returned to the nave, reversing late 19th-century removals by engineers Carlo Franci and Paolo Zampi.
Visiting
Inside the uncluttered space, you can observe how the lower aisle windows are fitted with alabaster panes, a specific design choice to keep the cathedral cool during the Italian summer. These sit directly below neo-Gothic stained glass designed by Francesco Moretti between 1886 and 1891. Above, the timber truss roof dates back to the 1320s work of Pietro di Lello and Vanuzzo di Mastro Pierno. Outside, listen for the cathedral's five Renaissance bells, which are all tuned to E flat.
Our editors' tip
Look closely at the structure of Orcagna's rose window. The use of a 22-sided geometrical base is highly uncommon in Gothic architecture, requiring complex statistical and geometric techniques to achieve its perfect symmetry among the surrounding statues and mosaics.