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.

Krishnamurti

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

Pope Benedict XVI

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.