Duomo

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This is Livorno Cathedral  San Francesco with it’s belltower and apse facing via Cairoli. It was all built after the war and inaugurated at Christmas 1952.

The explanation:

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Livorno was heavily bombed during the second world war,  and the 16th century cathedral was destroyed in1943. (Photo La Vecchia Livorno)

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After the war, the new Duomo slowly rose from the ruins. It was built as a reproduction, but naturally in a simplified and not as elaborate style.

Some of the art had been kept safe and could be reinstalled in the church, like Fra Angelico’s famous Christ crowned with thorns, see here.

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Above the only original part of the exterior.

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The Duomo front with it’s clean marble facade, a very clear and ever-present reminder of  history. Now facing the temple of our times and it’s big yellow signs opposite the busy Piazza Grande.

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