Urbino’s Cathedral, the Duomo, was built by the bishop Beato Mainardo in 1062 and dedicated to Virgin Mary of the Assumption. In the 15th century it was rebuilt again, and at the end of the 18th century it took its final neoclassical style with its façade, designed by Morigia and clashing with the colour of the bricks of the nearby buildings, and the bell tower built in the same period. Outside there are seven statues of saints, among which the one of S. Crescentino, patron saint of the city, celebrated on the 1st of June.

The interior shows the classical approach of the architect Giuseppe Valadier, who worked on the church between 1789 and 1801: it is large and solemn, vast, elegant and noble. The dome is decorated with the images the four evangelists made by different painters. In the high altar there is a big painting of C. Unterberger portraying the ‘Virgin of Assumption’, to whom the cathedral is dedicated.

In the previous centuries the Cathedral had a different shape and other artists worked on its project and design. When duke Federico was alive, Francesco di Giorgio Martini himself designed the whole worship building. The works to implement the Sienese architect’s project lasted until 1604, year in which the dome designed by Muzio Oddi was built. In 1781 a strong earthquake damaged the dome and the incomplete façade.
The restoration of the church was slowly carried on and, at the beginning of 1789, the dome caved in, falling down to the underground level.

The interior of the cathedral is 60.5 m long, 36.8 m wide and 50 m high. It is divided into a nave and two aisles: in the nave there is the altar (in the past damaged by the fall of the dome), and the bronzes, made by Camillo Rusconi. Several paintings decorate the church; among the most famous ones: "the transfer of the Holy house of Loreto" by Claudio Ridolfi, the "Martyrdom of S.Sebastiano" by Federico Barocci and the "Annunciation" by Raffaello Motta.

http://www.comune.urbino.ps.it/CTDettaglio.aspx?ct=416&id=1841&xyz=f2b097d3-c80f-4915-ac93-8dcb4251b177