Santa Maria Assunta Cathedral (Chioggia)
It is the principal church of Chioggia, as well as the cathedral of the local diocese. It was built in the twelfth century, when the bishopric was moved from Malamocco to Chioggia. This building was destroyed on the night of December 25, 1623 by a disastrous fire; the following year it started its complete reconstruction, with a project by Longhena, who managed to incorporate into the new building what had been spared from the old one, reversing however the original orientation.
The red brick building has a flat facade with a sort of double timpanum and glazed semi-circular window, containing two niches with the white statues of the patron saints of the city, Felice and Fortunato. The church tower was built in Romanesque style and has, over the entrance portal, a bas-relief of the fourteenth century depicting the Virgin Mary.
The interior of the cathedral has three naves separated by pillars, lighted by six windows, three on each side, identical to that of the main façade; for each window of the side aisle there is an altar, decorated with valuable altarpieces by Jacopo Palma il Giovane and Francesco Rosa.
The chapel dedicated to the patron saints of the city is located to the left of the chancel, and here there is also the urn that holds the relics of two martyrs.
The high altar, where we find engraved scenes of the life of the Virgin Mary and the two patron saints, was created by Alessandro Tremignon.
Other features of the building are the pulpit of the second half of the seventeenth century by Bartolomeo Cavalieri, the eighteenth century organ and the baptistery, which dates to the early eighteenth century.
