The cathedral of S. Gervasio and S. Protasio stands on Città della Pieve’s main piazza and is an important building containing numerous works of art.
Historical sources claim that the twin brothers Gervasio and Protasio, two martyrs who lived between the 3rd and 4th centuries in Milan, were the sons of St Vitale and St Valeria. Following their parents’ cruel murder, the twins sold all the family’s property and gave all the proceeds to those most in need. They decided to spend the next ten years in prayer and meditation, but they met an unfortunate end; denounced for their Christianity, they were tortured and finally cruelly killed. Their bodies were forgotten and were found only thanks to Sant’Ambrogio on 17th June 386. In a dream, the saint received a revelation that led him to start digging near an ancient cemetery where the bodies were later found.
The story of the two saints immediately became popular and they soon became venerated in Italy and in many other places; numerous churches were also built in their honour, such as the church of San Vitale in Rome, built by a matron called Vestina.
The Cathedral of Città della Pieve was also dedicated to them and was initially built around the 8th century. Later, in the 13th century, it was rebuilt partly in the Gothic style. The exterior of the building was made with different materials, sandstone and brick, depending on the historical period in which the alterations took place. In the 16th century, a further renovation followed, which led to the construction of an external staircase and the raising of the internal floor. The apse was rebuilt in 1574 and in 1584 it was rededicated. The church was initially a collegiate church and then, in the 1600s, it became a Cathedral. Following a collapse in 1679, the roof, which was originally trussed, was rebuilt with a vault. Between the 17th and 18th centuries there were other intense periods of building improvements. An attempt was made to render the church similar to the Chiesa del Gesù in Rome, which was a symbol of the Counter-Reformation: the religious iconography and the altars in homage to God – denied during the Protestant Reformation – regained their importance.
From the outside, the church looks sombre and simple, but once inside you are surprised by a single wide, majestic nave and struck by the beautiful walls with dark pilasters in contrast with the white of the barrel vaults with their lunettes, except for the “Gloria celeste” frescoed in the dome of the apse by Antonio Circignani known as Il Pomarancio. The church has a Latin cross plan and there are six chapels, positioned respectively to the left and to the right of the nave. The presbytery is in a raised position, on three steps. There is an organ and the chapels are embellished with numerous paintings. There are works by Pietro Vannucci known as Il Perugino, such as the “Battesimo di Cristo” (Baptism of Christ), la “Madonna in gloria fra i Santi Protettori Gervasio e Protasio con lo stendardo della città e i Santi Pietro e Paolo” (Madonna in glory between the Patron Saints Gervasio and Protasio with the banner of the city and the Saints Peter and Paul), and a 16th century sculpture “L’Addolorata”, and works by Pomarancio such as “Sposalizio della Vergine” (Wedding of the Virgin) and the “Santi Domenicani in adorazione del Crocefisso” (Dominican Saints in adoration of the Crucifix). Works by Salvio Savini include the “Madonna in trono tra i Santi Francesco, Bonaventura e un Servita” (Madonna enthroned between Saints Francis, Bonaventure and a Servite) and the “Vergine in Trono col Bambino, San Domenico e Santa Caterina da Siena” (Virgin on the Throne with the Child, St Domenico and St Caterina of Siena). Inside the cathedral there are also other frescoes by Giannicola di Paolo, Domenico di Paride Alfani, Giacinto Gimignani, Giovanni Teutonico and Annibale Ubertis.
The bodies of the two patron saints of Città della Pieve, St Gervasio and St Protasio were transferred and safeguarded for centuries inside the church of S. Ambrogio in Milan, but in 1714, Città della Pieve received a number of relics to be kept in the church dedicated to the two holy martyrs.