The Church of Martyr Saint Agapitus is the Cathedral of Palestrina; its origins are very old. It was built between the 4rth and 5th Century upon the ruins of Roman-era residential buildings. The building was subsequently restructured and enlarged in a Romanesque style in the 12th Century.
Today, only the façade, the bell tower and the crypt remain of the Romanesque building; the cathedral was almost completely destroyed in 1437 during battles waged against the Papal State. It was later rebuilt and redesigned various times over the following centuries (especially in the 18th and 19th Centuries).
The upper part of the façade has Romanesque features, while the marble portal with the coat of arms of the Della Rovere and Colonna families dates back to the 15th Century.
The church holds many important art works from the 17th and 18th Centuries and the area surrounding the high altar is decorated with frescoes and paintings by Bruschi depicting the life and martyrdom of Saint Agapitus (19th Century). In the left aisle there is a chalk copy of Michelangelo’s Palestrina Pietà, while a 16th-century painting is held in the Chapel of the Crucifix.
Ruins dating back to the Roman era can be seen in the crypt, as well as many medieval gravestones including that of Oddone Colonna.

Galleria fotografica