The Duomo (Cathedral) of Salerno is dedicated to St. Matthew the Evangelist and was founded at the request of Robert Guiscard in 1076, the year that the Normans conquered the town of Salerno after a 7 month siege.

The current entrance, flanked with a sculptured lion and lioness is a modification of the former medieval entrance. The doorway leads to an atrium with bare columns and raised arches echoing Islamic style. Around the sides of the atrium is a series of Roman sarcophagi.

The campanile (bell tower), built in the middle of the 12th century at the request of William of Ravenna, archbishop of Salerno stands on the southern side of the atrium.

The main entrance to the church is a Byzantine Bronze door. The door was made in Constantinople consisting of 54 panels within a marble portal.

The layout of the church resembles that of other basilicas built during the early centuries of Christianity. The hall of the church is divided into three naves separated by two colonnades. The transept, which opens onto three apses, is slightly elevated due to the crypt underneath. The crypt houses the body of St. Matthew plus other saints and martyrs native to the town of Salerno. A century after the church was built a mosaic floor of marble tesserae forming geometrical patterns was laid in the presbytery area.

Situated in the main nave of the church are two ambos. The Guarna ambo, situated on the left of the nave was donated by archbishop of Romuald II Guarna in the second half of the 12th century. The ambo is decorated with phytomorphic and anthropomorphic elements. Above the arches, bas-reliefs depict an angel holding the Gospel (symbol of St. Matthew) and an Eagle (symbol of St. John).

The Ajello ambo, situated on the right of the nave is twice the size of the Guarna one. The ambo is decorated with floral and zoomorphic capitals. There are two groups of sculpture, one depicting an eagle clawing at a man held by a snake and the other depicts two youths on two lions. A third piece of relief sculpture is the Paschal candle supported by four lions. The candlestick is decorated with three successive sculptured and mosaic bands with the top showing a dance of men, women and wild animals.

The church as it appears today is the result of work done during the baroque period. Neapolitan architect Guglielmelli worked on the church after the earthquake of 5th June 1688 and a few decades later Roman architect Carlo Buratti also worked on it. The roof reconstruction by Ferdinando Sanfelice also dates to those years.

To the left of the nave some stone steps lead down into the crypt which was inaugurated in March 1081. The relics of apostle Matthew, patron saint of the city, were buried in in the presence of Alfano I, Emperor Michele and Duke Roberto il Guiscardo.

The crypt was transformed in the 17th century due to the degraded state in which it was built. The work was commissioned to Domenico Fontana who was also responsible for the crypt decorations.

The paintings depict the Storie di S. Matteo, by N. Haccherino in polychrome marble by Franceso Ragozzino.

The tomb of St. Matthew is central to the crypt with altars on both the north and south sides. The northern altar has a small opening through which it is possible to see the sepulchre of St. Matthew. The tomb is covered by a double canopy with a centrepiece of two twin Statues of St. Matthew created by Michelangelo Naccherino in 1606. The Saint is depicted as he writes the Gospel with a book resting on his left knee and a pen on his right hand. At his side an angel hands him an inkwell.

A sign at the entrance to the crypt tells the legend of how St. Matthew’s relics arrived in Salerno*.

The Holy Apostle and Evangelist Matthew, while he was preaching in Ethiopia, was martyred and buried in the mountainous area by the order of the king Irtaco. Gavino, a cavalier, a citizen of Vella and the prefect of the Valentinian militia, dislocated the body of Saint Matthew from Brittany in the year of our Lord 352. From the year of the Jesus Christ 412, after that Lucania and other territories had been occupied and completely destroyed by the barbarians and the inhabitants slaughtered and forced to escape, the body of Saint Matthew stayed in the land of Casalicchio for 600 years.

It stayed there until the Apostle appeared in the dream of the pious woman Pelagia and her son Atanasio, in which he gave them the right instructions to find him. After this happening they found the body of the Saint in a place between the ruins covered with oaks. Then the bishop Giovanni took this big and incomparable treasure to enrich his Cathedral in Capaccio.

Finally, Gisulfo, prince of Salerno, who triumphed against the Saracens had the precious relics transported his city, almost as a gift from heaven.

*I have used a combination of the English translation on the sign and a Google translation to English from the Italian original.

• Sources of information are a signboard outside the cathedral and the cathedral website.

Over the past couple of weeks several things have cropped up disrupting my routine and pulling me off in different directions. I haven’t had the space to clear my head to enable me to write about Salerno Duomo (Cathedral). Unless I get blown off course again the post is coming soon

The Duomo of Amalfi, situated at the top of a long flight of steps, dominates the city’s main square. During the Middle Ages Amalfi was one of four powerful Maritime Republics of Italy. It traded prolifically with other countries, in particular the Orient and the Maghreb. The monument complex of the Cathedral (Duomo) is a testament to that past. Ascending the steep flight of steps gives the tangible impression of reaching up towards God. At the top of the steps are two bronze doors with a fresco of St. Andrew above that were cast in Constantinople in 1057.

The bronze doors are the main entrance to the Cathedral; however visitors today gain access to the Cathedral complex via a side door leading to the Paradise Cloister. Stepping into the cloister I noticed how peaceful and quiet it was in stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of Amalfi itself. The cloister, Oriental in style, is the ancient cemetery of the nobility of Amalfi. A small Mediterranean garden is situated in the middle of the cloister courtyard and round the edges of it are sarcophagi, marble fragments with decorated mosaics and small funerary chapels. The Cathedral bell tower which is Moorish in style can be seen through the cloister arches.

To one side of the cloister is a door which takes you into the small Corsano family chapel with its fourteenth century frescoes depicting the Death of the Virgin and also Saints and Prophets. The chapel leads to the Basilica of the Crucifix. The Basilica, recently restored back to a single nave, was once dedicated to  Our Lady of the Assumption and subsequently to the Saints Cosmas and Damian.

The oldest part of the nave was the first Cathedral of Amalfi, dating to the sixth century AD. The church was extended during the tenth century and when the new cathedral was built adjacent to the original church, the two were connected by a long colonnade, remnants of which can be seen in the southern wall. The styling gives the nave the appearance of a Christian mosque. The nave was altered in the fifteenth century to make way for the Paradise Cloister and construction of small family chapels for wealthy families, a few of which have survived with fourteenth and fifteenth century frescoes.

Since 1996 the Basilica has been home to the Diocesan Museum which displays sacred objects from the treasures of the Cathedral of Amalfi. The collection displays many objects of interest including relics in caskets, silver skull reliquaries, a wooden fragment of Christ’s Cross, a casket containing a Holy Thorn, monstrances, vestments, sculptures, paintings and liturgical items. In the apse of the Basilica hangs a stunning fourteenth century Crucifix.

Steps from the Basilica lead down to the crypt where relics of the body of St. Andrew are kept. St. Andrew was crucified in the Greek city of Patras and his body was taken to Constantinople. Later, during the Fourth Crusade, it was moved to Amalfi by the papal legate Cardinal Pietro Capuano. The relics were placed in the crypt in May 1208.

The current style of the crypt dates to the seventeenth century. Beneath the main altar lies a crystal ampule from which on the vigil of St. Andrew’s Feast Day (and occasionally at other times) a substance called ‘Manna’ is collected. This is a dense liquid which sweats out of the tomb of the Apostle. The event first happened in Patras then in Constantinople and now in Amalfi.  Above the altar is a bronze statue of St. Andrew the Apostle which is flanked by a pair of marble statues of St. Stephen and St. Lawrence representing the Western and Eastern churches. Behind the altar are large images of St. John the Baptist and St. Andrew.

The back of St. Andrew’s skull is currently in the Reconciliation Chapel of the Cathedral so that it can be venerated by the faithful.

Steps from the crypt lead up to the cathedral which I found to be rather dark and slightly oppressive. However the guidebook describes it as a wonderful, inspiring spectacle. The current baroque style has obscured most of the original Romanesque structure. The panelled ceiling and canvases adorning the walls depict scenes from St. Andrew’s life. Both the left and right aisles have chapels containing interesting artefacts including a catafalque bearing a sculpture of the dead Christ, which, on Good Friday, is used in a procession along the streets of Amalfi.

NB:

• I have used the guidebook of the The Diocesan Museum of Amalfi as a source of information.
• Other relics of St. Andrew of the Apostle are claimed to be held in St Andrew’s Cathedral, Patras, Greece, St. Mary’s Cathedral in Scotland and perhaps in other locations.

The Duomo (Cathedral), renovated in 1786, was originally built in the 11th century at the request of Nicola Rufolo, owner of the adjacent Villa Rufolo. The Cathedral is dedicated to St. Pantaleone, the patron saint of the city.

The bronze embossed entrance door dates from 1179 and has 54 panels depicting scenes of the major mysteries of Christ’s life, death and resurrection, along with religious iconography such as arches, lions, griffins and symbolic figures that  narrate biblical tales. Within Italy, there remain approximately 20 of this type of door, most of which can be found in southern Italy. Other similar doors have been lost over the years for various reasons.

Within the Cathedral to the left of the altar is a small chapel dedicated to St. Pantaleone and at the back of which is a small passageway that leads to the Holy Relic of St. Pantaleone; a vial of his blood that becomes translucent every 27th July, the day of his martyrdom. The vial is placed behind glass and a metal grille.

The Cathedral contains two ornate pulpits (ambos). One, the Ambo of the Epistles, was built on the order of Constantino Rogadeo, second Bishop of Ravello and its mosaic scenes depict Jonah being swallowed by the whale. There is a similar ambos in the Cathedral of Salerno.

The second ambos is for the reading of the Gospels. It was donated by Nicola Rufolo and dates from 1272. This ambos is topped by an eagle whose claws rest on the book of John the Evangelist; ‘IN PRINCIPIO ERAT VERBUM’.

Beneath the Cathedral is the crypt which houses a museum that contains items from the Roman era, holy relics and other interesting items.

After breakfast we made our way to the bus stop in order to catch the bus to Amalfi where we intended to catch a water bus to Salerno. Once again the bus did not arrive as scheduled but on this occasion we only had to wait 30 minutes. The boat trip was enjoyable, stopping off at different ports on the way to Salerno. On the journey I tried to get to grips with my mobile phone camera so that I could document the day. The camera seems to have a mind of its own and features I thought I had turned off kept catching me out when I found that they were in fact turned on!

Once in Salerno we headed towards the Cathedral (Duomo di Salerno) stopping for lunch on the way. We knew we were in non-tourist Italy because the Italians knew only a little English which made ordering food fun and we weren’t completely sure what we would get. As we waited for the food to arrive Mr C located a nearby electrical store by searching on Google. It was only a short distance away and we went there after we had finished our lunch. I had low expectations of finding a suitable small camera but felt it was worth a look.

As we entered the store we were greeted by a man who indicated that we had to put our bags in a blue locking shoulder bag (to stop petty theft from the store). Mr C asked him if the store sold cameras and he pointed us in the right direction.

Unexpectedly the shop did have the type of camera I was looking for and Mr C was able to translate the tech specs for me. I chose the camera I wanted; we conducted a conversation half in Italian and half in English. I was offered a case at discount price and a memory card was added to my purchase. The shop assistant who was helping us with our purchase gave us a ticket and pointed to the cash desk. Once the item had been paid for, we were given a different ticket and had to ask what we were supposed to do with it. We had to go back to the camera counter and the purchased items were released to us. We then had to return the cash desk so that the items could be put in a carrier bag. Our personal bags were then released from the blue security bags. As we left the shop the door alarm went off, they had forgotten to swipe the security tag on the camera…

Purchase complete, we headed to the Cathedral which is plain, simple and extremely peaceful. It was only as we entered the crypt that I realised it housed the body of St Matthew which had been brought there in the 10th century. The crypt was also very peaceful and we sat for a while in reflection.

We made our way back to the harbour and purchased our return ticket to Ravello. The journey back was quicker than the one earlier in the day because this boat sailed directly to Amalfi where we caught the bus back up the hill to Ravello. Once back in Ravello we assumed our position in one of the cafe bars in the square, enjoying the sunshine before it was time to go to the hotel to freshen up before dinner.

We had chosen to dine in the Michelin starred Rossellinis  Restaurant in the Hotel Palazzo Avino. The evening was an experience with a perfect view over the Amalfi Bay towards Minori and Majori all accompanied by a musical duo playing English classic songs. On arrival I was provided with a footstool for my handbag and the waiter in charge introduced himself before asking if we would like Pink Champagne as an aperitif. We were provided with a gourmet selection of bread (to which we did not do justice) as we sipped our Champagne and chose our meals from the menu. After our orders had been taken the wine list was produced – it was a mighty tome which would have taken a week to read. Mr C’s starter arrived before a wine decision had been made so a side table was provided for the wine list. Mr C enlisted help to choose a suitable ‘local’ dry white wine to accompany the meal. In between courses we were presented with tasty morsels to complement the meal. The desserts were delightful, I had chosen Tiramisu with a difference; it was a taste sensation. Mr C had chosen a dessert that was intriguingly entitled ‘Memories of Mont Blanc’. When it arrived it looked like a candle (or perhaps a stick of dynamite) complete with wick. The waiter proceeded to light the wick and said ‘I am not a terrorist’. The burning wick was supposed to unleash the smell of vanilla…

Comfortably replete, we soaked up the atmosphere as we sipped the remainder of our wine with yet more tasty morsels. All too soon the evening came to an end and it was time to retire for the evening.

This morning I had forgotten to put the alarm on but, luckily, I woke up anyway. Straight after breakfast we made our way to the bus stop to try our luck at catching a bus to Amalfi. After a few minutes we learned from someone else in the queue that the bus had left seven minutes early! The next bus was due in thirty minutes so we waited and waited… A bus eventually turned up thirty minutes late, by which time we had been waiting for an hour and were just about to give up.

The busy journey along the narrow and winding roads with hairpin bends and a sheer drop on one side was reminiscent of a roller coaster ride. We found out why the buses struggle to keep to schedule, there is a particularly narrow stretch of road only wide enough for one bus at a time. This is controlled by traffic lights with an extremely long delay. At one point in our journey a van decided to park on the wrong side of the road blocking the pathway of our bus and also the traffic in the direction the bus was travelling. The van had left the bus driver with no room position the bus properly in the road so as to to easily make room for another bus and two lorries to pass by. It was a tight squeeze and, amusingly, the driver of one of the lorries waved at the bus passengers as they passed nose to nose. A bus travelling in the other direction stopped to let our bus, and the queue of traffic built up behind it, through. By the time we arrived in Amalfi the bus driver had become rather annoyed at the bad behaviour of the van driver that had parked up.

In Amalfi, we weren’t keen on the town. It was too busy and touristy for our liking and there were lots of crocodile lines of people following tour guides.  We walked up the main street and stopped for a quick drink before making our way to the Cathedral. The Cathedral, dedicated to the Apostle Saint Andrew, is approached by a steep flight of steps leading up to the image of the Apostle and above that an image of Christ and the Twelve Apostles. The building itself is imposing and dominates the Piazza del Duomo where it is situated.

A museum housed in what was the original Cathedral contains interesting artifacts and relics including a large 14th century Crucifix suspended from the ceiling and which I found quite moving. Before descending into the crypt we viewed the cloister, at which point my camera decided to play up. It was showing a black screen and I thought I had inadvertently “pressed a button”. I fiddled with it for a while and it started working again.

We went down into the crypt which holds the Holy Relics of the body of Saint Andrew which were brought to Amalfi during the Fourth Crusade. Beneath the main altar is a crystal ampoule from which on the Saints feast day and sometimes on other occasions, a substance called ‘Manna’ is collected. This is a dense liquid which sweats out from the tomb of the Apostle. The current cathedral is baroque in style and painted inside with dark gaudy colours giving it an oppressive feel. Inside the Cathedral my camera packed up completely and I had to resort to the camera facility on my mobile phone!

We had lunch in the Piazza del Duomo looking up at the Cathedral. Whilst waiting for the food to arrive I inspected my camera and found that the shutter had stuck closed meaning there was nothing to be done with it until we returned home. Our waitress advised of a place she thought sold cameras, but the shop she mentioned sold only disposable cameras. We were directed to another shop a few doors away but they didn’t sell cameras either, just photo printing services, and we were advised to try in Positano or Salerno.

After this adventure we returned to the bus stop to catch a bus back to Ravello. It arrived a little late but when it arrived we found we had the same driver as on our previous journey and his good humour had returned. Back in Ravello we booked an evening meal in the Garden Restaurant before making our way to the square to take up a now familiar position in one of the cafes. Back at the hotel Mr C phoned up the Citalia company rep and asked where the best place to purchase a new camera would be. She suggested Salerno which she described as a small authentic Italian town and a lot nicer than Amalfi which she described as touristy. Little did she know that Amalfi is where we had been earlier. She further advised that if we did visit Salerno we should visit the Cathedral.

Our next day’s travel plans now sorted, Mr C went to the hotel reception to report that the shower screen was broken making it difficult to open and close. In due course the maid turned up with a maintenance man. What ensued was much banging and clattering and a loud telephone exchange in Italian between the maid and a man on the other end of the phone. After a while the maid said “one moment” and the two of them left the room. A short while later the phone in the room rang. It was the hotel reception advising that the shower could not be fixed today,  and asking if we wanted to change rooms? We chose not to take them up in this offer as the shower problem was only a minor detail.

A few minutes later the phone rang again… It was hotel reception to advise that they were going to send the maid round with something to help with the shower problem! We were a bit bemused by this and I had almost forgotten about it when, about 10 minutes later, there was a knock on the door. I opened the door expecting the maid but instead there was a young man standing there with a bottle of prosecco on ice and a couple of glasses!! He advised that reception had sent this with their compliments and asked if he could come into the room. He then proceeded to the balcony terrace and placed the tray on the table, much to Mr C’s surprise – he was sitting at the table reading a book. The waiter helpfully suggested that perhaps we should enjoy it as an aperitif before dinner. This sounded like a good plan so we sipped prosecco in the warm evening air as the sun went down before making our way to the restaurant for our evening meal.

We were served by a pleasant young man who helped us with our choices, however when the main meal arrived we realised that we should have ordered salad or vegetables to go with the dishes we had ordered so although the food was nice we were both slightly disappointed by our mistake. After our waiter had removed our main course plates from the table he refused to make eye contact and did not come back with the dessert menu leaving Mr C to flag another waiter down. Our original waiter came to take the order but his demeanor had changed to being aggressive and abrupt. I am not sure what we had done to upset him (maybe it wasn’t us) but it did put a slighter dampner on the evening.

Strong gusts of wind outside the window shutters woke me up just before the alarm went off. I looked out of the window to find several sunbeds had blown into the hotel pool and that the balcony table’s cloth and cushions had blown onto the floor. We made our way downstairs to breakfast which was inside rather than outside due to the weather. There was a good spread of both continental hot and cold food to choose from.

After breakfast we had intended to go on a walking tour of Ravello to find out what there was to see but due to the extremely strong gusts of wind we decided to go into the Cathedral (Duomo) instead. The main entrance to the Cathedral is via two twelfth century bronze doors cast with 54 scenes of the Passion. On entering the Cathedral, it is notable that the floor slopes quite steeply upwards towards the altar giving the impression of walking up towards God. There are two huge mosaic-covered pulpits; one on either side of the aisle.

To the left of the altar is a small  chapel dedicated to St Pantaleone at the back of which is a small passageway that leads to the Holy Relic of St Pantaleone; a vial of his blood that becomes translucent every 27th July, the day of his martyrdom. I was quite dismayed that a tour guide was talking loudly to her group just outside the chapel, a place that I felt should be a place for reflection rather than noise! After she had gone I entered the chapel and visited the relic which is placed behind glass and contained in a metal grille.

After leaving the Cathedral we sat in the square for some time drinking tea before setting off on a walk to find the tourist information centre so that we could buy a multi-site ticket to Ravello’s attractions. We arrived at where it should have been to find that it had recently moved location and so we set off to find the new location, taking in some spectacular views along the way. As we paused to take some photos at the top of a flight of steps, there was a loud bang and the sound of shattering glass. An upper window had banged against its shutter and shattered into the street, narrowly missing Mr C.

We continued walking along S. Giovanni del Torro past the Palazzo Avino Hotel and the Hotel Parsifal both of which were on our list of options for a meal one evening. Nearby we paused to look at the war memorial and memorial stone to Umberto I, King of Italy before finally reaching the tourist information office. We found out that the ticket we required was only available at the Cathedral, in the ticket office we had tried earlier in the day but it was closed!

We continued our walk, looking for a lunch venue that served Pizza, ending up back almost where we had started our walk. After we had finished our pizzas, which were delicious, we returned to the Cathedral to find the ticket office now open so we were able to purchase our multi-site tickets. Presumably the ticket office is only open when the Cathedral is shut between 12.00 and 17.00 hours. However with the ticket we were able to enter the Cathedral even though it was closed.

We started with the Cathedral museum which has many interesting items including a reliquary bust of St Barbara which contains her skull. A former Bishop insisted that holes be drilled into the bust so that he could check inside to see the relic. Our second visit of the day to the Cathedral was much more tranquil than our first and we paused to light  candles before we left and I offered silent prayers.

Our plan for an evening meal was the Villa Amora where we had eaten lunch the previous day but after getting slightly lost on our way there we arrived to find that they only did lunches. We settled on a plan B and booked a table in the Hotel Rufolo before making our way back to our hotel to relax and freshen up before dinner. For my meal I chose sword fish which came with roast potatoes, tomatoes and olives followed by rum baba.

We had a perfect seat overlooking the Amalfi Bay with its twinkling lights and saw some fireworks in the distance. Closer by there was a son et lumière set to the music of Wagner lighting up the Villa Rufolo .

Back in the hotel room we sampled another of the local wines. It was then that I realised that ‘it was forbidden’ to consume any food or drink that had not been purchased in the hotel and that the fridge was not to be used for for personal items either. Ooops!!