CATTEDRALE DI NOSTRA SIGNORA ASSUNTA DI SAVONA
Cathedral with a crucifix, a superb ciborium and the relics of Saint Valentine.
Savona Cathedral boasts a beautiful 16th-century Baroque façade. Inside, you'll find a15th-century crucifix above the high altar, a superb ciborium and... the relics of Saint Valentine. The real highlight of the complex is Savona's "Sistine Chapel", accessible through the cloister on the right nave side, built between 1481 and 1484 at the request of the Pope of the time as a mausoleum for his parents. It bears no resemblance to the famous Roman chapel, except for its name, after Sixtus IV, who commissioned both. The chapel was originally rectangular in plan, covered by a square apse and a hemispherical dome. Giuliano della Rovere, nephew of Sixtus IV, later completed the decoration with a cycle of frescoes and religious altarpieces. Today, an 18th-century restoration has given us a totally different view of the chapel from what it was in the 15th century. Rococo-style stuccowork has completely covered the original decoration, featuring flowers, gilding and cherubs, while the beautiful marble funerary monument depicting Sixtus IV accompanying his parents in front of the Virgin has been moved to the left wall. Beautiful organ from 1764, also covered in rococo decoration.
In the same architectural ensemble, but rarely opened, are the private apartments of Pope Pius VII, whom Napoleon assigned to residence in Savona between 1809 and 1812.
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Ne pas manquer la visite de la chapelle sixtine, qu'a fait bâtir le pape Sixte IV. On peut y voir notamment le tombeau de ses parents. Certes, la taille est modeste à côté de la chapelle Sixtine du Vatican, mais la restauration met en valeur le lieu et les visites guidées dans un français impeccable permettent de mieux comprendre l'ensemble. Je recommande vivement.