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The Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta: Where the Gothic of Fossanova Meets Benozzo Gozzoli
The Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta is situated in the centre of the town of Sermoneta, beneath the Caetani castle, in the Lepini Mountains. A 12th-century church, according to tradition, built above a temple of the goddess Cybele. It was then destroyed during the wars between the Annibaldi and Lando da Ceccano, and rebuilt in the 13th century by the same craftsmen who were working at the Abbey of Fossanova. This resulted in the Cistercian Gothic style adopted, which can still be seen today in the ribbed vaults and pointed arches.
The Bell Tower and the 15th-Century Lunette
What instantly strikes the eye is the Romanesque bell tower — 24 metres high, with twin-light windows on four tiers, and coloured ceramic bowls set into the brickwork. The lunette of the portal contains a fresco by Pietro Coleberti da Priverno (mid-15th century) with the Virgin, the Child and the saints. The interior has three naves with sturdy pillars and elongated arches, with layering that tells the story of two centuries of building.
Our Lady of the Angels by Benozzo Gozzoli
In the Cappella De Marchis is the centrepiece: the Madonna degli Angeli by Benozzo Gozzoli, dated to around 1452. The Virgin holds in her lap a small model of Sermoneta — the oldest known view of the village. In the choir is the Stories of the Virgin frescoed by Bernardino Cesari between 1600 and 1606, and the 17th-century wooden baldachin by Giuseppe Baccari above the altar.
