Around this time, the final phase of construction took place, resulting in the structure as we see it today.
The façade features a Romanesque lower section and a Gothic upper section. The lower part consists of marble blocks of varying sizes, horizontally striped with bands of black marble from Colonnata.
Notable on the façade is the white marble rose window, framed within a large square, composed of twenty columns—some smooth, others twisted.
On the side, there is a thirteenth-century doorway, while the upper part of the flank features Gothic arches with decorations, including the wheel (symbol of Carrara) and the Pisan cross.
The interior is divided into three naves, with twelve columns supporting round arches, while the main nave is covered by a trussed ceiling. The four-story bell tower, with a simple slit window on the first level and increasingly larger windows on the upper floors, was already completed by 1282, as attested by a plaque beneath the second-floor window.
**Description:** Inside the cathedral lies the body of Saint Ceccardo, bishop and martyr. The body is preserved in a case beneath the altar bearing his name. The skull bones are housed in a silver head cast over the saint’s face. It was transferred to the cathedral on July 10, 1609. Previously, it is believed to have been in the Church of San Ceccardo.
**Date of use:** 1609
**Relic:** Bones
**Description:** Image of the Madonna del Popolo, which was previously placed on one of Carrara’s gates. Several miraculous events are associated with this image.
**Date of use:** 1632
**Image:** Painting
**Original location of the shrine:** Inside the cathedral, on the right wall, there is a particularly unique ex-voto—a fresco depicting the Madonna with a young woman drowning in the Arno River below, recognizable by the cathedral and the Tower of Pisa painted on either side. Unfortunately, little else is known due to the scarcity of information. The fresco likely dates back to the 15th century.
**Type of ex-voto:** Other
**Current preservation:** The fresco is located on the right wall of the church and was restored in the 1980s.
The sanctuary’s founding date is considered to be the day of the translation of Saint Ceccardo’s relic into the Cathedral of Sant’Andrea, which occurred in 1609. The cathedral itself dates back to the 11th century, with clear documentation from 1035.
The founding legend that has been uncovered does not concern Saint Ceccardo’s relic or the Madonna del Popolo but rather the Cathedral of Sant’Andrea. For completeness, we include it here: A medieval canon claimed to know of a contract, once held in the archives of Sant’Andrea but lost under the Este family, stating that the church’s original foundations were laid to fulfill the vow of a prominent figure who was miraculously saved from a storm on Carrara’s shore on the Feast of the Assumption.
Another Latin manuscript recounts a similar tale: two nephews of Pope Lucius I, rescued from a shipwreck by Saracens, received a sum of gold from their rescuers as tribute to the Pope. After being driven from his throne by Emperor Valerian, the Pope ordered the construction of the Carrara temple dedicated to the Virgin, entrusting the work to his two nephews, who died during the bell tower’s construction, halting the project. This latter legend is considered unreliable due to historical inaccuracies—Saracens were not known by that name at the time, and bell towers did not yet exist.
The Statutes of Carrara allude to the construction of a new cathedral, not just for Christian worship but as a meeting place for alliances, peace treaties, and war declarations.
This entry was compiled by Gabriele Costa. For the Carrara sanctuaries, thanks go to the Municipal Administration, the Cultural Councilor, and the staff of the Cultural Office for their collaboration in the census.
The indulgences, extended to the faithful honoring the Madonna del Popolo and Saint Ceccardo, were not granted for those specific devotions but for the Carrara Cathedral. Pope Urban II in 1088 ordered the recitation of the Ave Maria to ensure the success of the Crusades, and Carrara promptly complied, earning an indulgence. In 1335, Bernabò Visconti, Bishop of Luni, obtained indulgences from Pope John XII for those who, after giving alms to the hospital, knelt to pray to the Madonna at the Ave Maria hour. This indulgence is inscribed in Gothic Latin on a plaque originally placed on the church bell tower, later moved to the atrium of the old San Giacomo and Cristoforo Hospital, and now in the civic hospital’s atrium.
During this period, the Diocese of Nullius was in effect, and the Canons of San Frediano held full spiritual and jurisdictional authority over the territory. In 1621, the Bishops of Luni-Sarzana began a long struggle to extend their jurisdiction to this church and its territory.
Until 998, the parish church of Sant’Andrea functioned as a cathedral since Bishop Gottifredo I of Luni resided there.
On October 19, 1770, Bishop Lomellini of Luni-Sarzana, delegated by Pope Clement XIV, returned the church to the secular clergy.
On February 11, 1151, Gottifredo II, Bishop of Luni, ceded the parish church of Sant’Andrea to the Canons of San Frediano in Lucca, who officiated it under a Prior-Prelate. In 1517, Pope Leo X united the Canons of San Frediano with the Lateran Canons of Rome. Sant’Andrea passed to the Lateran Canons, but direct jurisdiction and the title of Ordinary of Carrara remained with the Prior of San Frediano.
After Gottifredo II’s concession, the Canons of San Frediano held full authority over the church. They also founded a monastery in Carrara with a Prior who exercised quasi-episcopal jurisdiction over the church and the entire Carrara territory. This prelate, assisted by his Vicar General, canons, and priests, officiated the cathedral with all episcopal privileges, conducted pontifical ceremonies with mitre and crozier, and conferred the tonsure and minor orders. Only for major orders and confirmation did they turn to the nearest bishop, either from Pisa or Sarzana.
54033 Carrara, Province of Massa and Carrara, Italy
