Alghero · old town
Cathedral of Santa Maria
Alghero's cathedral, between Catalan Gothic and Neoclassical façade
✽ 5 min on foot from the apartment
The Cathedral of Santa Maria, co-cathedral of the diocese of Alghero-Bosa, is a building with a layered history: construction began in 1530 in Catalan-Gothic style, continued through the 16th century with Renaissance additions, and concluded in the 19th century with a Neoclassical façade designed by Michele Cordella. The result is a unique architectural narrative: if you enter through the main portal, you think you're in a Neoclassical church, but just past the threshold you realise you're inside a 16th-century Catalan-Gothic cathedral.
The building phases
Work began to a design by Antoni Carcassona, a Catalan master, in the Catalan-Gothic Barcelona style. The Latin cross plan, the star vaults, the clustered pillars and the great octagonal bell tower in white limestone all belong to this phase. In the 17th century the late-Renaissance presbytery was added, with a decorated vault. Only in the 19th century, with Cordella's Neoclassical façade (1862), did the church take on its present appearance. The Catalan-Gothic style is still visible in the side chapels, the splayed windows and the cross vaults of the transept.
What to see inside
Inside, the side chapels hold paintings of the Neapolitan school (17th–18th century), a 16th-century Catalan wooden crucifix, and the fine hand-carved walnut-burl choir. The Chapel of the Sacrament, first on the right as you enter, hosts a canvas from the school of Guido Reni. In the left transept, the 18th-century cenotaph of the Duke of Montferrat. The bell tower, almost fifty metres tall, is visited by climbing a spiral staircase: from the top, the view takes in Alghero, the Bastioni and the coast as far as Capo Caccia.
Opening times and information
The cathedral is open all year: 7:30–12:30 / 16:30–20:00 in summer, reduced hours in winter. Free entry to the nave. The bell tower can be visited Monday to Saturday, 10:00–13:00 and 17:00–20:00, ticket €3. In summer, evening organ and sacred-music concerts are held (Wednesdays 21:00, generally free admission). During Setmana Santa (Holy Week) the processions depart from and return here: it's the most intense moment of the liturgical year in Alghero, absolutely not to be missed if you're in town those days.