Cathedral
Three naves with precious carved and gilt wood altars Cathedral
Cathedral
Pergola’s cathedral is dedicated to the Saints Andrew the Apostle and Secundus Martyr.
The building, originally the church of Saint Augustine, was erected in 1258 by the Augustinian order along with the convent that is now the Episcopal Palace. In 1819 it was selected as the bishop’s seat when Pergola and Cagli became dioceses. Of the mediaeval structure, only the Romanesque-Gothic bell tower and a few other parts remain. Between the 17th and 18th centuries, the building saw various modifications and extensions, eventually assuming the Baroque and neoclassical appearance it has today.
The first altar in the left aisle houses a Baroque painting attributed to Terenzio Terenzi, known as the Rondolino (1575-1621), depicting the almsgiving of Saint Thomas of Villanova.
The painting in the second altar, which can be confidently attributed to the School of Claudio Ridolfi, depicts the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist.
The third altar houses a canvas representing the Death of Saint Joseph, a 17th-century work of the Marche School. Alongside is a painted terracotta Crucifix from the first half of the 16th century.
In the niche of the last altar along the left aisle is a painted and gilt wooden group representing the Guardian Angel (17th century).
To the right of the high altar is a Crucifix painted in tempera grassa on a poplar wood panel, dating the 14th century and attributed to Mello da Gubbio.
The walls of the presbytery are decorated by two large canvases by the Pergolese artist Giovanni Francesco Ferri (1701-1775) portraying the Martyrdom of the Saints Secundus, Agapitus and Justina and the arrival in Pergola of the relics of the town’s patron saints. In the basin of the apse is the Gloria of the Patron Saints in gilt wood, sculpted by Carlo Calandri of Gubbio (1675-1759). On the main altar, itself made of precious marble, is a reliquary containing the head of Saint Secundus. This fine work of Gothic, 15th-century goldsmithery is made from gilt, silvered and enamelled copper. It is one of very few examples from the period still found in the Pesaro area.
The chapel of the Sacrament contains two valuable works. The first is the Last Supper which some ancient records ascribe to Federico Barocci (1528/35-1612), but which later documents describe as a copy made in the early 1600s by a pupil, perhaps Gian Andrea Urbani (?-1632), from an original by the master that hangs today in the chapel of the Sacrament in Urbino cathedral. The second is Christ Crucified with Angels by Luca Giordano known as the Fapresto (1634-1705) of Naples.
Moving on we come to the Graziani chapel, built in 1652, with its sumptuous Baroque altar enriched by a splendid canvas of the Madonna of Ghiara and Saint George attributed to Jean Boulanger (1606-1660), a dedicated disciple of Guido Reni. This chapel also contains rare examples of 17th-century funeral art by the Emilian School, in the form of family portraits. Standing against the right wall is the late Baroque style processional carriage of the patron saints, in carved and gilt wood, made by Gaetano Rovesi in 1744 and decorated by Domenico Giuseppe Ferri in 1745.
The third altar in the right aisle houses a wooden statue of the Madonna of the Seven Sorrows, decorated with seven silver swords, dating from the first decades of the 18th century. At her feet is a Dead Christ in polychrome fig wood by an anonymous 17th-century artist from Marche region.
The second and first altars along the right aisle contain two devotional statues, respectively of the Sacred Heart and of Saint Barbara, the patron saint of miners.
On the counterfaçade hangs a 17th-century wooden Crucifix by an anonymous sculptor who was probably inspired by Alessandro Algardi.