The monumental building dedicated to the patron saint of Nuoro overlooks a large square in the city’s historical town centre. Built between 1846 and 1853 from a project by the architect and monk Antonio Cano, it replaced the previous church of Santa Maria Maggiore; the latter, in fact, was regarded as being too small to be a cathedral.
Its neoclassic style facade stands between two square-shaped bell towers while monumental Ionic half columns divide it into transoms. The facade is rounded off with an indented gable with Mary’s emblem. The access portals the transoms open out, the largest being the central one, and a lunette provides light to the inside.
The expansive interior has a barrel-vaulted single nave off of which open out three apse chapels each side, which are interconnecting.
The cathedral’s works include the eighteenth-century sculptures of the Dormitio Virginis most likely originating from the ancient church of Santa Maria Maggiore, the seventeenth century sculpture of San Giovanni Battista and the twentieth century canvases produced by Giovanni Ciusa Romagna (1907-1958) and Carmelo Floris (1891-1960) dedicated to the Via Crucis.
