The St. Matteo Cathedral, founded by Roberto the Guiscard and consecrated by Pope Gregory VII, was officially opened in March 1084. 

The present structure dates back to the earthquake of 5 th June 1688, when it was completely rebuilt. 

The main entrance has been altered and the courtyard is surrounded by a covered walkway supported by twenty eight plain columns with arches and a series of Roman tombs around the walls. On the southern side of the cathedral stands the bell tower which dates back to XIIth century.

You access the cathedral through a bronze byzantine door. In the centre nave are the celebrated amboni decorated with sculptures and mosaics dating back to the last decade of the XIIth century. In the Treasure Chapel, one can admire the many gothic relics including St. Matteo's arm and the statue of the Salerno Martyrs. 

The crypt is situated under the main alter. The crypt area is made up of nine rows of three bays with a cross shaped vault which rests on pillars. It was restored by Domenico Fontana, who designed the vault in alternate octagonal and circular sections surrounded by stuccoes and paintings. He designed the double main alter where two masses can be celebrated simultaneously.

The Salerno cathedral boasts between the 12th and 14th centuries, a large number of noble burials in reused sarcophagi. The tombs, recovered mainly from the Campania mausoleums of the 2nd/3rd century AD.  occupied the noble chapels of the Cathedral of San Matteo and the atrium used as a cemetery. VIDEO

Following the Miracle of San Matteo of 1544, it is known that in Salerno it was decided to include the figure of the Evangelist in the coat of arms of the city, and San Matteo became the patron saint of Salerno. The feast of the saint occurs on 21 September. Every year in the city of Salerno he is celebrated as the patron saint with a solemn procession that crosses the historic center. Next to him five other saints parade, St. Joseph, Pope St. Gregory VII, who died in exile and buried in Salerno, the martyrs San Gaio, Sant'Ante and San Fortunato, who -despite representing three male figures- are traditionally called "the sisters of Matthew", confusing them with Sant'Archelaide, Santa Tecla and Santa Susanna, also their third century martyrs. 

E/F - From Cattedrale di San Matteo to Acquedotto Medioevale - 10 min

Other places to visit nearby

Tempio di Pomona - The Temple of Pomona is located near the Cathedral of Salerno and dates back to Roman times, when the city of Salerno, home to several temples (dedicated to Bacchus, Venus, Juno and Priapo), received the title of "College of the Augustals" in demonstration of the great importance it had during the Roman period. The erection of the temple of Pomona, which was very impressive, should date back to 81 AD: Most likely the temple was not where the homonymous large hall of the Archbishop's palace is now located, but near the Roman forum. The temple of Pomòna was pròstyle with four columns at the entrance on a high podium, with a pronaos, the entrance and the large internal rectangular room surrounded by walls. Today is characterized, inside and out, by about fifteen Ionic style columns joined together by a pointed Gothic arch. The capitals consist of four heads of the goddess Pomona and a square crowning slab of the capital formed by concave faces. The flooring, the attic with a central round arch, a trunk of the foundations, the single-lancet windows and a wall plaque were found. The latter, located between the second and third single lancet windows, recalls a donation of 50 thousand sesterces made by a certain Tito Tettenio Felice Augustale in the 4th century AD. The majestic columns that we see today in the Pomona Temple are not of the original temple but even older: they are part of the Capitolium of Paestum, they were brought to the city by the Normans perhaps for the erection of the Archbishop's palace, and then give up. It can be hypothesized that the presence of female protomes in the capitals was unsuitable for a sacred temple and therefore placed in the adjacent building. VIDEO

Palazzo Arcivescovile di Salerno - The diocese of Salerno enters history in the second half of the 5th century with the first bishop, St. Bonosio. His twenty-third successor, Bernaldo (843-855) will be the protagonist of a curious episode: reigning the princes Sicone and Pietro (849-855) he felt offended by the hospitality granted by these to a Muslim leader in the house where he used to live . Following this he leaves the city and reaches Rome, where he stays for an unspecified period. Prayed by the same princes, by the clergy and by the people, he returns on condition that a new bishopric be built. This, perhaps, is the origin of the building we see and which since 983, being Amato I prelate (982-993), will be the seat of the Salerno archbishops, having been the diocese elevated to the rank of archdiocese.

Palazzo d'Avossa - Built in the seventeenth century, it suffered serious damage during the earthquakes that occurred in Salerno in 1685, 1688 and 1694. In the following century the architect Ferdinando Sanfelice carried out a complete renovation of the building in the Baroque style of Campania. The Palazzo is the largest historical building in ancient Salerno. In fact, it covers an area of about 1,330 square meters, covered by four floors that reach a height of about 20 meters above the level of via delle Botteghelle. It also has a refined balcony, originally decorated with sixteen marble busts. Among the personalities hosted during the centuries-old history of the palace, we remember Charles III of Spain, who lived here in 1775 when he was staying overnight in the city, returning from the Persanom hunting reserve. Gioacchino Murat, King of Naples and Giuseppe Garibaldi, national hero of the Risorgimento.

Palazzo Morese - The palace, built in the 15th century, has a fine courtyard with a Catalan loggia and overlooks the ancient "Largo Cassavecchia". In this Largo, of distant Lombard origin, there was the ancient "Treasury" of Salerno, so some rooms of the building were used for this function. In the 18th century its facade was renovated in a partially baroque style. In the main internal rooms, a style inspired by the "Rococo" is displayed, where the influence of the architecture of Ferdinando Sanfelice is felt. In fact the entrance portal, once overlooking the hinge of via Duomo, was moved to Largo Cassavecchia - south side - and the ancient access, of which the remains of the fifteenth century are still visible, becomes the entrance to an exercise commercial. The current entrance portal is of the 18th century, like the balconies on the 5 levels that overlook Via Duomo, and the style of the apartment of the Morese counts. In addition, the external facade has a 15th-century portal and cornices on the balconies, while inside there are decorative stuccos, frescoes, coffered and painted canvases on the ceiling.

Museo Diocesano San Matteo - The Museum is undoubtedly the most important container of works of art in Salerno. The current location is not the original one, but corresponds to the recovery of the structure of the Diocesan Seminary, which, with the Library and the Archives, constitutes a great cultural center of the city and the province. The current configuration of the building corresponds to the works carried out in 1832 by Archbishop Lupoli. Following this intervention, the plexus took on a rigorously neoclassical physiognomy with a symmetrical development built around the central axis of the door, on the keystone of which the marble coat of arms of the prelate stands out, and of the balcony above, framed by a shrine that echoes a classic temple. The museum's artistic heritage includes works ranging from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. In it you can find Salerno ivories,  an illuminated scroll of the Exultet, a painted Cross (called del Barliario), the wooden cross (known as Roberto il Guiscardo), a rich collection of tempera on tables of the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. some canvases of the Caravaggesque school, several works by Andrea Sabatini, part of the collection of coins from Magna Graecia, the Roman Republic, the Roman Empire and the Mint of Salerno was placed in the bright corridors leading to the rooms. Among the thousands of coins there is the famous Follaro di Gisulfo II with the depiction of the "Opulenta Salernum",

Chiesa del Monte dei Morti - Renovated in 1530, probably on the remains of the church of S. Sebastiano from 994, located near Porta Rotese. From a series of documents we learn first of all that, through a canal, the waters of the Faustino and Palombara streams reached a courtyard owned by the monastery of S. Lorenzo where the church of S. Sebastiano was built, near Faustino and Mons Berolase. In another act, however, the abbot of the monastery of S. Benedetto is granted the waters of Faustino and Palombara, which reached the aquarium near the church of S. Sebastiano. The Faustino river is identified with the Rafastia stream (today Cernicchiara) which still today rises from Mount Taborre, flows towards via Pio XI and enters a sewer near the hospital in via Vernieri, to then run to the sea below. of the current Via Velia. The indication is provided by a passage from the Chronicon Salernitanum regarding the demolition of the eastern walls at the behest of Charlemagne: "ipsum murum ab orienti, qui est situs iuxta faustini rivum protinus diruamus". The Rafastia is the only river that flows near the ancient wall. Historians usually identify the limit of the area to the east with Largo Plebiscito, moreover, the site in question is not very far from Via Velia. Another indication to locate the church comes from the term "carvonarium", that is the "bia antiqua propinquo ribus Faustini". In the document of 994 we read that the canal for the collection of the waters that flowed into the courtyard where the church of San Sebastiano was located passed above the carvonarium. In reality, the "bia antiqua" and the "carvonarium" should indicate the same thing as the "bia caba" of the 1005 document and correspond to the current Via Arce. The "carvonarium" is nothing more than the moat built in the north to replace the "bia antiqua" when the city extended to the east thanks to the Lombard prince Arechi II. The "carvonarium" was then enlarged and excavated to correspond to the "bia caba", that is, embedded between two banks or embankments. This further information also makes it plausible to identify the church of San Sebastiano with that of Monte dei Morti.

Chiesa di San Michele Arcangelo - The first news of the monastery of San Michele and Santo Stefano dates back to 1039, when Sichelgaita was abbess. The Archangel Michael, a warrior saint, was in fact particularly loved by the Lombard people who found there the connection with the ancient sword-wielding divinities of his pagan origin. The current church is the result of a reconstruction of the seventeenth century. In 1619 the convent passed from the Benedictine nuns to the Poor Clares and was then suppressed in 1866, while the church was entrusted to the secular clergy. After a restoration, the building was reopened for worship in 2010.

Chiesa di Santa Maria della Porta - The first news of the convent dates back to 1272 when Archbishop Matteo della Porta granted the church of San Paolo Palearia, near Porta Rotese, with adjoining vegetable gardens and gardens to the Dominican fathers, for the construction of their conventual structure. Two years later the homonymous church annexed to the convent was built and consecrated. After 1294 the convent became part of the recently established Dominican Province of the Kingdom of Naples. In 1363 the convent risked being demolished to reinforce the city walls but Queen Giovanna ordered to include it within the enclosure, without disturbing the peace. The church has a single nave, rectangular in shape, with side chapels. The roof consists of a pitched roof, with wooden framework and a mantle of tiles and canals, with a dome with lantern, in the past tiled. The nave is characterized by a barrel vault with lunettes and a dome on the transept. The floor is in square marble slabs, made in 1939,  to replace the original brick. External decorations with Ionic-style capitals on the sides of the portal, decorative stuccoes, cornices and scrolls.

Complesso S. Michele - The monastery of San Michele and Santo Stefano, of which only the church remains intact, stands on the street of the same name. The origin of the ancient female monastery is attributed to the Counts Guaiferio and Guido and to the latter's wife, who ordered its construction in the year 991. The church of San Michele was founded before the monastery, during the 9th century. The monastery was subjected to the control of the abbots of the palatine chapel of San Pietro a Corte and exercised the right to confirm the election by the abbess, to receive the nuns' vows, to correct the wandering nuns, to control the attendants and the chaplain and the granting of entry permits for strangers into the enclosure. During the restoration work, numerous archaeological finds were found and, thanks to accurate archaeological investigations, ancient burials were brought to light, subsequently cataloged and included in extensive documentation. The premises most affected by these findings are those located in the north-east area on the ground floor of the building. Archaeological excavations have also revealed the stratigraphy of various wall faces, an ancient column and an arch in stone mixed with bricks that emerged under the lining of reinforced plaster on the first floor; foundations which are fundamental for the interpretation of architecture, which have made it possible to define an overall picture of the various construction phases of the building.

Reggia di Terracena - Castel Terracena was built by the Norman Duke Roberto il Guiscardo in a period ranging from 1076 to 1080. It was a fortified complex located close to the eastern walls of Salerno, on the top of a hill, east of the Cathedral. Palazzo Terracena was the Norman "Reggia" in Salerno, different from the Lombard one. The purpose of the construction was to strengthen the defenses of the city and to provide the new Norman kings with a palace of power other than the Lombard one. Castel Terracena is considered one of the pearls of the medieval era, was built by Guiscardo with fabulous pomp in homage to Sichelgaita, his second wife, who no longer wanted to live in the old Lombard palace of Arechi. The new royal residence could perhaps have recalled the splendor of the court of his father Guaimario IV and his brother Gisulfo II. Its existence was short, having ended, in mysterious circumstances, between 1251 (date of its last citation) and 1261, the year of the death of Pope Alexander IV who gave the land on which it was built to the Benedictine monks. Only two centuries after its construction, the building underwent considerable damage following the earthquake of 1275. The area where the complex of Castel Terracena can still be recognized today (even if there are doubts about the real site of the complex), although seriously tampered with and disfigured by subsequent stratifications, is the one that, from the current Archaeological Museum, reaches the apses of the Duomo, in via Genovesi, and then continue on via dei Canapari and via Mario Iannelli. In this complex some towers decorated with yellow and gray tuff "inlays" are clearly recognizable. 

The ancient eastern wall of the medieval city, coming from the marina, until the beginning of the fifteenth century cut the area today of Palazzo Pernigotti and continued on the area of the Pagano houses, to reach the Palazzo di San Benedetto built on the area that had been Castel Terracena, as confirmed by an agreement dated 10 April 1602 between four master masons and Camillo Pagano, with which the masters undertake to dismantle, from that day and within three months, the entire wall that is in Camillo's garden, in Porta Nova, with the agreement that all the stones, tuffs, marbles and any columns resulting from this demolition remain the property of Camillo; with the exclusion of the dividing walls that are between Camillo and the Abbey of San Benedetto. It seems clear that this huge work could only involve a residual section of the eastern wall of the medieval city.

Chiesa Sant'Apollonia - The church is of ancient origin (11th century). Commonly known as Sant’Apollonia instead appears in 1531 with the title of Santa Maria della Misericordia. Today it is deconsecrated and used as a hall for events.

Fregi Romani - On a palace in via S. Benedetto, encapsulated in the masonry of the n19th-century building, there are three fasces of ancient Rome, typical of the imperial age: "They are from the time of Vespasian, presumably between 69-79 A.D. - explains Pastore - are three bundles of crossed prismatic rods. Therefore, they are not the most common cylindrical ones. The bundles are to be reported to the city magistrate Tito Tettieno Felice ”. The building that boasts this ancient frieze is located right in front of S. Apollonia. Just look up to notice it in all its stone beauty, also considering the excellent state of conservation.

Chiesa di San Benedetto - The first news of the existence of this ancient place of Christian worship dates back to 868, when it is mentioned in a legal act that attributed some lands to the convent. It is not known who the founder is: according to some, the church already existed in the early Christian era, but it seems more likely that it was Arechi II or his son Grimoaldo III who built it at the end of the 8th century.