Explore Religious Heritage Across Europe

The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist is a church in the town of Ragusa. The first church, before the earthquake of 1693, was located in the western part of the old town of Ragusa, under the walls of the medieval castle, where the church of St. Agnes, built on the ruins at the end of the 18th century, now stands. Severely damaged by the earthquake, it was rebuilt at the end of the 17th century in the centre of the new town of Ragusa.

Rapolla Cathedral was first mentioned in 1037 and we know that this first cathedral was destroyed in 1183 when the inhabitants of Melfi attacked Rapolla. The church was immediately rebuilt and completed by Melchiorre da Montalbano in 1253. The Cathedral has also been destroyed or damaged many times by earthquakes (1456, 1694, 1851, 1930 and 1980).

The Cathedral of Ravenna was built in the Baroque style between 1734 and 1745 on a cathedral, the Basilica Ursiana, dating from the early 5th century. This ancient cathedral was built following the transfer of the capital of the Western Roman Empire from Milan to Ravenna by Emperor Honorius in 402.

The current Cathedral of Reggio Calabria was built in 1908, in the neo-Romanesque style, after having been completely destroyed by the Messina earthquake. The first church was built around 300 AD on the ruins of a Greek Apollo temple.

The existence of the Reggio Emilia Cathedral is first documented in the mid-9th century, but it must have existed as early as the 5th century. In 1268 the octagonal tiburium, the present bell tower, was built and the apse was given a curvilinear shape. In 1544 Prospero Sogari, known as Clemente, was commissioned to build the new façade. It was started sometime later but was soon interrupted due to lack of means. In 1599, the Sienese architect Cosimo Pugliani considerably modified the interior, incorporating the old Romanesque structure into a Doric entablature. The dome was designed in 1623 by Abbot Messori, a local architect. In the 1960s, the important Romanesque paintings on the façade were removed and placed in the diocesan museum, sheltered from the weather.

The Cathedral of Ripatransone was built between 1597 and 1623 by the architect Gaspare Guerra. The church underwent several extensions. After the construction of the dome (18th century), new works carried out in 1837-1842 restored the whole building, replacing the roof and the floor, completing the façade and creating a second sacristy. During the last restoration of the cathedral, which was completed on 15 May 1960, a mosaic with the coat of arms of the commissioning bishop, Monsignor Vincenzo Radicioni, was placed on the floor.

The cathedral of Rossano was built in the 11th century, with subsequent interventions in the 18th and 19th centuries. The bell tower and the baptismal font date back to the 14th century. The cathedral is famous for its ancient image of the Madonna Acheropita, that is not painted by human hand, probably dating from between 580 and the first half of the 8th century.

Ruvo Cathedral, built between the 12th and 13th centuries, is one of the most important examples of Romanesque architecture in Puglia. The construction of the cathedral was commissioned in the 11th century by Robert III of Loritello, an important baron of the kingdom of Sicily.

The monastery of Sabiona (in German Kloster Säben) is the spiritual cradle of the entire Tyrol and is one of the oldest Christian monuments in the Alps. The current monastery’s building was founded in 1687 on a site used by bishops since the 6th century. Currently and for almost three hundred years, the monastery has been the seat of a community of Benedictine nuns, who are currently only 11 and live in seclusion.

The Sacra di San Michele is a monastic complex perched on top of Mount Pirchiriano, 960 meters above sea level, one of the most beautiful examples of religious architecture in the Piedmont region. Founded in the 10th century, it became one of the main centers of Benedictine spirituality in Italy from the 12th to the 15th century. In 2018, the old monastery of Sacra suffered serious damage following a fire on the roof.