Orvieto Cathedral

Orvieto Cathedral
Duomo di Orvieto
Façade of the cathedral
Religion
Affiliation	Roman Catholic
Province	Terni
Ecclesiastical or organisational status	Diocese of Orvieto-Todi
Status	Active
Location
Location	Orvieto, Umbria, Italy
Architecture
Type	Church
Style	Italian Gothic
Groundbreaking	1290
Completed	1591
Website
http://www.opsm.it/

Orvieto Cathedral (Italian: Duomo di Orvieto; Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta) is a large 14th-century Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and situated in the town of Orvieto in Umbria, central Italy. Since 1986, the cathedral in Orvieto has been the episcopal seat of the former Diocese of Todi as well.

The building was constructed under the orders of Pope Urban IV to commemorate and provide a suitable home for the Corporal of Bolsena, the relic of miracle which is said to have occurred in 1263 in the nearby town of Bolsena, when a traveling priest who had doubts about the truth of transubstantiation found that his Host was bleeding so much that it stained the altar cloth. The cloth is now stored in the Chapel of the Corporal inside the cathedral.

Situated in a position dominating the town of Orvieto which sits perched on a volcanic plug, the cathedral's façade is a classic piece of religious construction, containing elements of design from the 14th to the 20th century, with a large rose window, golden mosaics and three huge bronze doors, while inside resides two frescoed chapels decorated by some of the best Italian painters of the period with images of Judgment Day. The cathedral has five bells, dating back to the Renaissance, tuned in E flat.