DUOMO DI SANT'ANDREA

"Art is the place of encounter with mystery, because the beauty of created things arouses nostalgia for God. "(John Paul II in the Letter to Artists).

Duomo. Architectural symbol of the city and the entire Amalfi coast, built at the top of an imposing staircase, the Duomo is dedicated to St. Andrew, patron saint of Amalfi. Founded in 987, the successive remodelling gave it its current baroque character with its façade streaked with polychrome mosaics. Note the Romanesque bell tower built between 1180 and 1276, with Arabian influences and decorated with green and yellow majolica. Admire also the splendid Byzantine bronze door cast in Constantinople in the 11th century. The entrance portal is also magnificent with Christ, the Virgin, Sant'Andrea and San Pietro. The interior has three naves in baroque style with two ancient monolithic columns.

Cloister of Paradise. Access from the left atrium of the Duomo. The cloister was built in 1266 by Archbishop Augustariccio in the Amalfi Romanesque style with Islamic and Byzantine influences, as a burial place for the local aristocracy. Linger over the structure with its intertwined arches resting on more than a hundred marble columns. Note the amazing play of light. In the centre, a beautiful garden with its fountain. See also the lapidary rooms with sarcophagi from various periods. Along the ambulatory, several chapels are decorated with frescoes: the Crucifixion of the homonymous chapel is attributed to Roberto d'Oderisio, a major representative of the giottesque style in Naples in the 14th century, while the rest of the pictorial decoration of the chapel dates from the 17th century.

Basilica of the Crucifix and Diocesan Museum. From the cloister you can reach the Basilica of the Crucifix, which was the first cathedral of Amalfi and houses the Diocesan Museum. Built in the 9th century on an ancient early Christian building, it is now adjacent to the Duomo. Restored in the Baroque style, it has been returned to its original Romanesque style after the 1994 restoration, which also brought to light several remains of frescoes along the walls and in the chapels. In the museum you can admire the Angevin mitre (late 13th century) and its precious stones, the Chinese sedan chair (18th century), the Golden Fleece necklace and the silver coins of the Neapolitan School.

Crypt. This is where the relics of St. Andrew are kept. The bones of the saint produce a substance called manna, which is said to have the power to cure diseases.