The Crypt

Entrance to the Basilica and the Crypt is FREE. To the Chapel of the Treasury, you can visit in the days and hours as above, and in the Crypt providing for an offer € 1 (one euro).

The Crypt is the first group in the construction of the cathedral. Already in March 1081, in the presence of Robert Guiscard and Archbishop Alfano I, there were placed the relics of St. Matthew, the holy martyrs and other saints as evidenced by several tombstones located there, which shows that on that date the structure was already full. The crypt, as seen today, corresponds to the work performed at the beginning of the seventeenth century by the architects Domenico Fontana and son of Julius Caesar, which took advantage of the centrality of the tomb of Saint Matthew, the most sacred place of the whole church and around which are all other spaces. The marble altar is decorated on both sides by an elegant canopy. To ornament of the Medical College in 1666 and Salerno he gave in 1673 two pairs of fine brass candelabra, made realize by Francesco Rosso.

Over the past 60 years the structure of the altar was totally transformed. On the northern side it was built a new altar. Here through a small opening you can see the tomb of St. Matthew. At the center of the double canopy altar are two statues made by Michelangelo in 1606. The saint is portrayed while writing the Gospel with a book resting on his left knee and a pen on the right hand. At his side an angel holds out an inkwell.

The most sacred place of Salerno Cathedral is, without doubt, the tomb that guards the precious relics of his august patron St. Matthew.  The location of the tomb itself, located in the center of the Crypt, it means that it will form part more vital from which radiates light and fervor.
In 1081, after the new and spacious crypt, Alfano I put down the relics of the saints and martyrs and those who were to crown him.  Today, as you see, the Crypt meets jobs performed at the beginning of ‘600 by the architects Domenico and his son Giulio Cesare Fontana, which have made dramatic and functional space by organizing it around the double-faced statue of the saint, erected over the tomb with a double altar. This double statue It was created by Michelangelo Naccherino in 1606.

The right apse is called the Saints Confessors of which there is a performance above the high marble attributed to Louis Roderic. On the walls in the upper two frescoes illustrate the Siege of Salerno by Barbarossa and the storm unleashed by St. Matthew, which occurred thanks to a miracle of the saint who sank much of the enemy fleet and save the city. In the vault frescoes depicting St. Grammazio, the miracle of the liberation of one possessed, healing a sick and allegories: The Wisdom, Fortitude and Justice.

In the central housing the remains of the holy martyrs Caius, Ante and Fortunato and San Felice. The polychrome marble altar was donated by the School of Medicine in 1753. The bronze busts of the holy martyrs were made by Giovan Domenico Vinaccia, and dated 1680. The vault is covered with stucco and frescoes by Belisario Corinthian depicting scenes of life of the Holy Martyrs.

The left apse is dedicated to the Holy Virgin. Here were in fact preserved the relics of Marina and Constance. The marble altar dates back to centuries. XVIII, with a marble frame that frames the canvas painted by Pacecco De Rosa depicting the Madonna delle Grazie and the SS. Trofimena Constance and Agata. In the bezel side is a fresco representing St. Agatha hexagonal healed by Peter in prison. The chapel of the relics was made in 1957 by the Archbishop realize Moscato. In it they were transferred into special oval relics of saints found in the Crypt.

BY AIR

The nearest airport is Neaples International Airport which is linked to airports all over the world with direct connections. Rapid connections at all hours of the day permit speedy transfer to Salerno.

Rome International airports (Fiumicino and Ciampino) are situated at 283 km and it takes 2.30 hours to get to Salerno by direct train connections. Rome International airports (Fiumicino and Ciampino) are situated at 283 km and it takes 2.30 hours to get to Salerno by direct train connections.

BY TRAIN

Salerno is connected to the National Rail Network with the fast Eurostar and Intercity lines.

BY CAR

Salerno is well connected to the national network of motorways.

CONNECTIONS FROM/TO NAPLES AIRPORT TO SALERNO BY PUBLIC TRANSPORT
– BUONOCORE GROUP: www.buonocore-group.it
– SITABUS: www.sitabus.it
– TRENITALIA: www.trenitalia.com

Choose from a variety of T-shirts - See more...

CONNECTIONS FROM/TO ROME AIRPORTS TO SALERNO BY PUBLIC TRANSPORT
– BUONOCORE GROUP: www.buonocore-group.it
– CURCIO VIAGGI: www.curcioviaggi.it
– LEONETTI BUS: www.leonettibus.it
– TRENITALIA: www.trenitalia.com
– TRENITALIA- FIUMICINO-ROMA TERMINI : www.trenitalia.com
– ITALO TRENO: www.Italotreno.it

Weekday:

• 19.00

Holiday Hours:

• 10.00
• 12.00
• 19.00 

Half an hour before each celebration.
Monday to Saturday from 11.00 to 12.30

Every day: 

• Recitation of the Rosary 18.30
• Recitation of the Angelus and Vespers 19.30

The First Friday of the month from 18.00 to 19.00.

The Salerno Cathedral

The Salerno Cathedral was founded by Robert Guiscard. In March of 1081 it  the crypt was inaugurated and in July 1084, the church was consecrated by Pope Gregory VII in person, who took refuge in Salerno. The Salerno Cathedral is modeled along the lines of the Abbey of Montecassino Desiderio with a plant of a basilica consisting of three longitudinal aisles, a transept and a portico. The present appearance corresponds to a large part to the Baroque reconstruction, which started after the earthquake of June 5, 1688 by architect Neapolitan Archangel Guglielmelli modified and completed by the Roman architect Carlo Buratti.

The current input has changed the medieval sculptural couple with the lion and the lioness. The atrium is surrounded by a portico supported by 28 columns with arches raised, echoing types Islamic. It is decorated on all sides by a series of Roman sarcophagi, reused in medieval times, taking shape as a kind of Pantheon of the city. On the south side stands a tall bell tower of the mid-twelfth century. The main entrance to the church consists of a bronze door Byzantine inserted u medieval marble portal. The side chapels were affected mainly the Baroque culture with eighteenth-century paintings of good quality as the San Gennaro Francesco Solimena and Pentecost Francesco De Mura.

Do not miss the pro works from other eras, such as the Gothic statue of the Virgin and Child of the fourteenth century, the Tomb of Queen Margherita of Durazzo of Baboccio. In the central nave you can admire the famous ambos of the last decades of the twelfth century, decorated with sculptures and mosaics of the Sicilian area. To admire the mosaic floor in the transept of the early decades of the twelfth century, the mosaics of the side apses and the tomb of Pope Gregory VII. In the chapel of the Treasury, after the sacristy, you can admire the many gothic relics including St. Matthew’s arm and silver statues of SS. Salernitani Martyrs (XIII sec.), Carried in procession on the feast of the patron. On the lower level, at the central altar, there is the Crypt.

In 1081 the SS. relics of the Apostle Matthew, patron of the city, were buried in the crypt in the presence of Alfano I, Emperor Michael and the Duke Robert Guiscard. The crypt extends under the transept and the chorus and is constituted by an environment at room with nine rows of three bays, with a cross vault resting on columns; these wind in different directions and form, with admirable architectural effect, a network of curves that slope fading. The plant takes up room in a type used by the monks of Cluny, but the overall construction of the Salerno Cathedral is the result of new religious and spiritual climate of the eleventh century. In the seventeenth century they were determined for the lower Basilica major changes also due to the state of degradation besetting. The work was commissioned to Domenico Fontana, head of the architectural design and decoration. The Fontana conceived the time of the crypt in octagonal boxes that alternate with circular, bordered by stucco and fresco paintings. He determined the double central altar of St. Matthew, whose statue faced favored the simultaneous celebration of two masses and placed in the central thresholds of SS. Salernitani martyrs.

The Fountain was assisted by B. Corenzio and his workshop (1606-1608) for the paintings of the vault depicting the Stories of St. Matthew, N. Naccherino for the bronze statue of St. Matthew. In the eighteenth century, between 1718 and 1721, they were modified the two entrances to the crypt from the aisles. In 1763 it was covered with colored marble by Francesco Ragozzino, integrating and respecting fully the assumption decorative designed by Fontana.