Cathedral of Saint Lawrence (Lugano)

The San Lorenzo Cathedral is the bishop's church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lugano in Lugano in the Swiss canton of Ticino.

History

The church under the patronage of St. Lawrence was built in the year 818 as a parish church. In 1078 it was Collegiate Church. Since 1884, San Lorenzo was the seat of the Apostolic Administration of Ticino, from 1971, the Diocese of Lugano was created.

Architecture and Facilities

The originally Romanesque building was always faces east. Remains of the apse were found during excavations under the church square. In the 15th century the church was enlarged in the Gothic style, with cross vaults. The orientation was rotated; The new chancel was built in the West into the cliff. 1517, the Renaissance façade with rich figural decoration. The tower on the north side, in the Romanesque substructure, received two baroque upper floors and an octagonal lantern in the 17th century.

The interior is characterized by different styles of music. The columns and arches of the nave are still Romanesque, the choir, the aisles and vaulted Gothic. Baroque is the main altar and other pieces of equipment. The kuppelbekrönte Cappella della Madonna delle Grazie was built in the 18th century and contains rich late-Baroque picture and figure decoration. A profound transformation took place in 1905 to 1910. Originate from this time the neo-Romanesque wall and ceiling paintings.

The organ was built in 1910 by organ builder Mascioni. The instrument has 27 stops ( 2,300 pipes ) on two manuals and pedal. the tracker action are pneumatic.