Duomo of Nocera Umbra

About

The church of Saint Maria Assunta is a Catholic parish church in Nocera Umbra, in Umbria, and co-cathedral of the diocese of Assisi-Nocera Umbra-Gualdo Tadino.

History: The cathedral (Ecclesia Maior) of Nocera probably rests on the foundations of a temple dedicated to the goddess Favonia, who gave the name to one of the two tribes of the founders of Nocera (Umbrian:Noukria, "the New"), the Favonienses. The church existed for sure before the year thousand, and was the most ancient church of the territory. The most probable location is the top of the hill where medieval Nocera rose. During the middle ages the town was a best equipped fortress ("fortissima arx nucerina") ramparted by the Lombards in defense of the Duchy of Spoleto against the Byzantines who controlled Gualdo Tadino and Gubbio. The dedicatio is surely that one of Maria Assunta, festivity that in the west reached its apogee in the centuries VIII-IX. Historical documents attest the existence of a Romanesque cathedral already in the XI-XII century. In the XI century the church was the family chapel of the comital family. The shrine – named Sancta Maria infra Arcem ("St. Mary in the fortress") – lay inside the city fortress...