Vicenza Cathedral
Vicenza Cathedral (, "Duomo di Vicenza") is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Vicenza, Veneto, northern Italy. It is the seat of the Bishop of Vicenza, and is dedicated to the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. History. Construction of the cathedral was begun in 1482, to plans by Lorenzo of Bologna, and completed in the 1560s. The cupola was planned by Andrea Palladio and probably the north doorway also. Only the original façade survived the bombing of World War II; the rest of the present building has been reconstructed. The maestri di cappella include Fra Ruffino d'Assisi (1525–31), Nicola Vicentino  (1563–65), Giammateo Asola and his pupil Leone Leoni (1588-1627). Exterior. Facade - Gable. The original facade is Gothic and attributed to Domenico da Venezia 16th century. It is divided into four sections: the lower one has five arches in transoms, the second with arches in the center of an oculus, the third is smooth, the fourth is decorated with five statues (and two pinnacles added in 1948). Dome. The construction of the apse in the Cathedral of Vicenza had begun in 1482 to the design of Lorenzo da Bologna, but in 1531 it was still unfinished. Early, temporary, roofing was  erected in 1540, as a result of the possibility that Vicenza might host the Church Council which in the end was held at Trent. Only in 1557 did the Comune of Vicenza receive the financial means necessary from the Republic of Venice, in the shape of a bequest left by Bishop Zeno at the beginning of the century, and were therefore able to set in motion the work's completion. Andrea Palladio, the author of the new project, most probably drew up an overall design which was however executed in two phases: from 1558 to 1559 the main cornice was  built over the windows and the drum raised, while from 1564 to January 1566 the dome itself was constructed. The characteristic form of the lantern, abstract and devoid of decoration, was replicated on the summit of the cupolas of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice (planned in the same years), and is also present in some of Palladio's reconstructions of centrally planned antique temples, such as the Mausoleum of Romulus on the Via Appia. Since 1994, the dome, together with other Palladian buildings in and around Vicenza, has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site City of Vicenza and  the Palladian Villas of the Veneto. The bell tower. It is slightly detached from the church and placed in the street that runs along the south side of the cathedral. It rests on a 10th-century stone base, the bell tower dates from the twelfth century and has five bells, in the chord of Eb, the oldest still in place was cast in the seventeenth century. Interior. Organ. In the last chapel on the right, there is the Mascioni opus 721 rod, built in 1955 and subsequently expanded. The instrument is electrically powered and its console, independent mobile, has three  keyboards of 61 notes each and a concave-radial pedal of 32 notes.