Italy

The burial basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan Order, where Pope Gregory IX laid the foundation stone on July 17, 1228, one day after his canonization. Two superimposed churches of pink Mount Subasio stone, the Lower Church completed in 1230 and the Upper Church consecrated in 1253, with walls covered in frescoes by Cimabue, Giotto, Simone Martini, and Pietro Lorenzetti.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (Assisi, the Basilica of San Francesco and Other Franciscan Sites, 2000), Papal BasilicaPiazza Inferiore di San Francesco 2, 06081 Assisi (PG), Umbria

Photo: Hagai Agmon-Snir - -, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

The cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Patriarchate of Venice housing the relics of Saint Mark the Evangelist since 828, rebuilt in 1063 on a Greek-cross plan with five great domes, over 8,000 square meters of Byzantine gold-ground mosaics, and the jewel-encrusted Pala d'Oro altarpiece.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (1987)Piazza San Marco, 328, 30124 Venezia (VE), Veneto, Italia

Photo: Zairon, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons

The cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Florence begun in 1296 to a Gothic design by Arnolfo di Cambio and crowned between 1420 and 1436 by Filippo Brunelleschi's double-shell octagonal dome with a 45.5-meter internal span, the largest masonry brick dome ever constructed.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (1982)Piazza del Duomo, 50122 Firenze (FI), Toscana, Italia

Photo: Gary Campbell-Hall, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Italy's largest cathedral church begun in 1386 in pink-veined white Candoglia marble in the radiant Gothic style, renowned for its 135 spires, over 3,400 statues, the gilded copper statue of La Madonnina rising 108.5 meters high, and the relic of the Holy Nail of the True Cross.

National Monument of ItalyPiazza del Duomo, 20122 Milano (MI), Lombardia, Italia

Photo: Jiuguang Wang, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

A masterpiece of ancient Roman architecture first built by Marcus Agrippa around 27 BCE and completely rebuilt under Emperor Hadrian between circa 118 and 128 CE, renowned for its 43.3-meter unreinforced concrete dome open to the sky through the central Oculus and consecrated as a Catholic basilica by Pope Boniface IV in 609.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (1980)Piazza della Rotonda, 00186 Roma (RM), Lazio, Italia

Photo: NikonZ7II, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

The official ecclesiastical seat (cathedral) of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, and the oldest public church in the Western world, founded on land donated by Emperor Constantine the Great after the Edict of Milan in 313 and consecrated by Pope Sylvester I on November 9, 324.

Supreme Papal Archbasilica (Mother and Head of All Churches in the City and the World) and UNESCO World Heritage Site (1980, extended 1990, Ref. 91)Piazza di San Giovanni in Laterano, 4, 00184 Rome (RM), Lazio, Italy

Photo: Alvesgaspar, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

The largest and oldest Papal Major Basilica dedicated to the Virgin Mary in the Western world, erected on the summit of the Esquiline Hill by Pope Sixtus III between 432 and 440 following the Council of Ephesus, renowned for its fifth-century mosaics, the Relic of the Holy Crib, and the Marian icon Salus Populi Romani.

One of the Four Papal Major Basilicas of Rome and UNESCO World Heritage Site (1980, extended 1990, Ref. 91)Piazza di Santa Maria Maggiore, 00185 Rome (RM), Lazio, Italy

Photo: Jedesto, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

The second largest of Rome's four Papal Major Basilicas, rising along the Via Ostiense over the tomb of Saint Paul the Apostle. Founded under Emperor Constantine I in the fourth century, expanded by three Roman Emperors in 386 to 395, and faithfully rebuilt after the 1823 fire with 80 monolithic granite columns, the mosaic portraits of all the Popes, and the thirteenth-century Vassalletto Cloister.

One of the Four Papal Major Basilicas of Rome and UNESCO World Heritage Site (1980, extended 1990, Ref. 91)Piazzale San Paolo, 1, 00146 Rome (RM), Lazio, Italy

Photo: Livioandronico2013, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

One of the world's premier Catholic pilgrimage shrines in Padua, begun in 1232 just one year after the death and canonization of Saint Anthony of Padua. Combining a Romanesque-Gothic brick facade with eight Byzantine-style domes, it enshrines the saint's marble tomb and incorrupt Tongue alongside Donatello's Renaissance bronze High Altar and UNESCO-listed fourteenth-century frescoes.

International Pontifical Shrine of the Holy See and UNESCO World Heritage Site (Padua's fourteenth-century fresco cycles, 2021, Ref. 1623)Piazza del Santo, 11, 35123 Padua (PD), Veneto, Italy

Photo: joergens.mi, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

The architectural centerpiece of the Piazza dei Miracoli (Square of Miracles) in Pisa, founded in 1063 by architect Buscheto in white and grey marble as the founding masterpiece of Pisan Romanesque architecture, standing alongside the Leaning Tower, the Baptistery, and the Camposanto.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (Piazza del Duomo, Pisa, 1987, Ref. 395) and Primatial Metropolitan CathedralPiazza del Duomo, 56126 Pisa (PI), Tuscany, Italy

Photo: Chris Oxford, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

The Romanesque-Gothic masterpiece of Siena crowning the city's highest hill in alternating bands of white and dark green-black marble, celebrated worldwide for its inlaid marble pavement of 56 narrative panels, Nicola Pisano's octagonal pulpit, Pinturicchio's Piccolomini Library, and early sculptures by Michelangelo.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (Historic Centre of Siena, 1995, Ref. 717) and Italian National MonumentPiazza del Duomo, 8, 53100 Siena (SI), Tuscany, Italy

Photo: Livioandronico2013, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Đỉnh cao của kiến trúc bát giác và nghệ thuật tranh khảm Kitô giáo sơ kỳ kết hợp Byzantine tại kinh đô Ravenna, khởi dựng năm 526 và thánh hiến năm 547, lưu giữ hai bức khảm Hoàng đế Justinianus I và Hoàng hậu Theodora nổi tiếng nhất lịch sử.

Di sản Thế giới UNESCO (Các công trình Kitô giáo sơ kỳ tại Ravenna, 1996, mã số 788) và Tiểu Vương cung thánh đườngVia San Vitale, 17, 48121 Ravenna (RA), Emilia-Romagna, Italy

Photo: Petar Milošević, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Viên ngọc quý nhất của nghệ thuật giao thoa Norman, Ả Rập và Byzantine trên sườn núi Caputo nhìn xuống thung lũng Conca d'Oro, do vua Guglielmo II khởi dựng năm 1174 với 6.340 mét vuông tranh khảm vàng ròng và tu viện 228 cột đôi chạm khắc.

Di sản Thế giới UNESCO (Palermo thời Ả Rập - Norman và các Nhà thờ chính tòa Cefalù và Monreale, 2015, mã số 1487) và Tiểu Vương cung thánh đườngPiazza Guglielmo II, 1, 90046 Monreale (PA), Sicily, Italy

Photo: José Luiz, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

The motherhouse of the Benedictine Order and cradle of Western Christian monasticism, founded in 529 CE by Saint Benedict of Nursia atop a 519-meter limestone summit overlooking Cassino, where he composed the Rule of Saint Benedict and rests alongside his twin sister Saint Scholastica.

Territorial Abbey of the Catholic Church (Abbazia Territoriale), Motherhouse of the Benedictine Order, and National Monument of ItalyVia Montecassino, 03043 Cassino (FR), Lazio, Italy

Photo: Gaetano Fronzuto - coll. priv. della Fam. Caruso, Gaeta - Napoli, Phạm vi công cộng, Wikimedia Commons

The oldest sanctuary in Western Europe dedicated to Saint Michael the Archangel, originating from fourth-century-end apparitions in 490, 492, and 493 CE inside a limestone cavern atop Mount Gargano in Puglia, revered as the Celestial Basilica because it was consecrated directly by the Archangel rather than by human episcopal hands.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (Longobards in Italy: Places of the Power 568 to 774 A.D., 2011, Ref. 1318) and Minor BasilicaVia Reale Basilica, 120, 71037 Monte Sant'Angelo (FG), Puglia, Italy

Photo: Paolopartipilophoto, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

A rare Neo-Gothic church on Rome's Esquiline Hill serving as the Generalate sanctuary of the Redemptorist Congregation, built from 1855 to 1859 and world-renowned as the home of the original fifteenth-century Cretan gold-ground icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help entrusted by Pope Pius IX in 1866.

Cardinalitial Titular Church (Titulus Sancti Alphonsi in Exquiliis) and International Generalate Shrine of the RedemptoristsVia Merulana, 26, 00185 Rome (RM), Lazio, Italy

Photo: Nicholas Gemini, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

One of the world's most visited Catholic pilgrimage centers on the southern slopes of the Gargano Promontory in Puglia, where the Capuchin Franciscan friar Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio, 1887 to 1968) lived and ministered for fifty-two years, uniting the 1540 friary, the Home for the Relief of Suffering hospital, and Renzo Piano's 2004 limestone sanctuary.

International Pilgrimage Sanctuary of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin in the Archdiocese of Manfredonia - Vieste - San Giovanni RotondoPiazzale Santa Maria delle Grazie, 71013 San Giovanni Rotondo (FG), Puglia, Italy

Photo: Nikzia, Phạm vi công cộng, Wikimedia Commons

Italy's foremost national Marian shrine crowning a hill overlooking the Adriatic Sea in Marche, begun in 1468 to enclose and protect the three ancient sandstone walls of the Holy House of Nazareth venerated at Loreto since 1294, encased within a Renaissance Carrara marble screen designed by Donato Bramante.

Pontifical Basilica (Santuario Pontificio) directly subject to the Holy See and Premier National Marian Shrine of ItalyPiazza della Madonna, 1, 60025 Loreto (AN), Marche, Italy

Photo: Loreto250706.JPG : Mroselli derivative work: Rabanus Flavus, CC BY-SA 2.5, Wikimedia Commons

Công trình tôn giáo thời Phục Hưng duy nhất tại cố đô Torino, xây dựng năm 1491 tới 1498 cạnh Dinh thự Hoàng gia Savoia, nổi tiếng khắp thế giới là nơi tôn trí Tấm Khăn Liệm thành Torino (Sacra Sindone) từ năm 1578 cùng kiệt tác mái vòm đan cài Baroque của Guarino Guarini.

Nhà thờ chính tòa Tổng giáo phận Torino, Tiểu Vương cung thánh đường và Di sản Thế giới UNESCO (Nhà nguyện Khăn Liệm thuộc Quần thể Dinh thự Hoàng gia nhà Savoia, 1997, mã số 823)Piazza San Giovanni, 10122 Turin (TO), Piedmont, Italy

Photo: Stebunik, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Quần thể nghĩa trang ngầm lớn và quan trọng bậc nhất của Kitô giáo sơ kỳ dọc theo đường cổ Via Appia Antica ở ngoại thành Roma, trải dài gần 20 cây số hầm đá túp bốn tầng, nơi lưu giữ Hầm mộ của các Giáo hoàng thế kỷ 3 và Hầm mộ ban đầu của Thánh Nữ Cecilia.

Nghĩa trang ngầm chính thức đầu tiên của Giáo hội Roma trực thuộc Ủy ban Giáo hoàng về Khảo cổ Thánh và Di sản Thế giới UNESCO (Via Appia Regina Viarum, 2024, mã số 1708)Via Appia Antica, 110/126, 00179 Rome (RM), Lazio, Italy

Photo: User GerardM on nl.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons