Pope Gelasius II consecrated San Lorenzo in 1118, before its façade was complete. An earlier church stood on this site by the early sixth century, but the oldest building phase still visible is Romanesque. The lower west front belongs to an unfinished Gothic transformation begun in the early thirteenth century and influenced by northern France: white, red, pink and green marbles sit alongside black stone. Look upward to see how later generations changed the design; the right bell tower was completed in 1522. Inside, the side aisles retain the springings of arches from a larger rebuilding that was never finished.
A fire in 1296 damaged the colonnades and capitals. The Romanesque side portals of San Giovanni and San Gottardo survived into the later building. In the left aisle, the Chapel of Saint John the Baptist was begun in 1450; its marble front dates to the middle of the fifteenth century and its interior to the early sixteenth. It holds ashes venerated as those of Genoa’s patron saint. In the right nave, an exact replica recalls an unexploded shell fired by the British fleet in 1941.
The separate Treasury Museum below the church occupies medieval crypt rooms adapted by Franco Albini in 1956. Reliquaries, objects connected with the Baptist and historic liturgical works give this a different focus from the cathedral itself. Its Sacro Catino is a shallow green-glass dish once believed to be emerald and associated by tradition with the Holy Grail. The city catalogue proposes ancient Syrian manufacture, while acknowledging that the date is disputed. To place San Lorenzo within the surrounding historic centre, continue into our Genoa city guide.
Sources and citations (7)
- Visitgenoa / Comune di GenovaCattedrale di S. LorenzoScheda della cattedrale: ingresso gratuito, indicazione generica di accessibilità e coordinate.Read source
- Musei di Genova / Comune di GenovaTreasure Museum of St. Lorenzo CathedralMuseum description; Tickets and Concessions; Accessibility (museum scope).Read source
- Archdiocese of GenoaCattedraleInformazioni per la visita: sospensione durante le celebrazioni liturgiche.Read source
- Visitgenoa / Comune di GenovaCattedrale di San LorenzoStoria della cattedrale: replica esatta dell’ordigno inesploso del 1941 nella navata destra.Read source
- Musei di Genova / Comune di GenovaLa CattedraleStoria della cattedrale: basilica antica, consacrazione del 1118, facciata gotica, fasi della torre e della cappella.Read source
- Musei di Genova / Comune di GenovaSacro CatinoScheda dell’opera: materiale, tradizione del Graal e datazione proposta ma discussa.Read source
- Archdiocese of GenoaLa Cattedrale e i suoi museiStoria: incendio del 1296, portali superstiti di San Giovanni e San Gottardo, cappella del Battista iniziata nel 1450.Read source
