Bressanone Cathedral

The episcopal church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone rises in the centre of the town of Bressanone, at the PIazza del Duomo, that's to say at the Cathedral Square. The Bressanone Cathedral - "Dom zu Brixen" in German, "Duomo di Bressanone" in Italian - can look back on an eventful and long history dating back to 980 AD. After two fires, the church was built around 1200 with a three-aisled nave and two facade towers in Romanesque style. Between 1745 and 1754, the Baroque new building was constructed in the form in which we know it today. It was equipped with 33 different types of marble.

The Bressanone Cathedral, consecrated to Mary's Assumption and St. Cassian of Imola, is extremely worth seeing: The ceiling frescoes were made by the famous Tyrolean Baroque painter Paul Troger, his only ones in Tyrol. The 200 sqm ceiling painting shows the Adoration of the Lamb, the Angel Concert, scenes from the life of St. Cassian and the Assumption of Mary into heaven. The high altar, one of the most important Baroque altars in Tyrol, was made by Theodor Benedetti.

The organ with its 3,335 pipes and 84 stops is also impressive. The bishop's graves are located in a grave field in the transept. Numerous bishops, including those of the 20th century such as Joseph Gargitter, Wilhelm Egger and Karl Golser, have been resting here since 990, when the bishop's seat moved from the Sabiona Monastery to the newly built town of Bressanone. The Bressanone Bishop's Palace, on the other hand, houses the Diocesan Museum with its Cathedral Treasure and the crib collection, also sights of Bressanone. And how to reach the Bressanone Cathedral? It is located in the town centre and accessible in a short walk from the surrounding parking spaces.