Cattedrale di San Lorenzo (Museo del Tesoro)

The Cathedral of St. Lawrence (Italian: Cattedrale di San Lorenzo) is a church in the Italian city of Genoa, and is the seat of the Archbishop of Genoa.

The cathedral was founded probably in the 5th or 6th century AD, devoted to St. Sirus, bishop of Genoa. Excavations under the pavement and in the area in front of today's façade have brought to light walls and pavements of Roman age as well as pre-Christian sarcophagi, suggesting the existence of a cemetery in the site. Later a church devoted to the Twelve Apostles was built, which was in turn flanked and replaced by a new cathedral dedicated to St. Lawrence martyr, in Romanesque style.

The transferring of the cathedral favored the urbanization of the zone that, with the construction of it walls, in 1155, and the fusion of the three ancient city nuclei (castrum, civitas and burgus), became the heart of the city. The piazza, in absence of other public squares and centers of lay power, was the only city's public space for the whole Middle Ages. The cathedral was consecrated by Pope Gelasius II in 1118. Starting from 1133 the church had archiepiscopal rank. After the fire of 1296, provoked by fights between Guelphs and Ghibellines, the building was partly restored and partly rebuilt. Between 1307 and 1312 the façade was completed, the inner colonnades rebuilt with capitals and matronei added. The Romanesque structures remained pretty untouched, and frescoes of religious subject were also added.

Various altars and chapels have been erected between the 14th and 15th the century. The small loggia on the northeastern tower of the façade was built in 1455; the opposite one, in Mannerist style, is from 1522. In 1550 the Perugian architect Galeazzo Alessi was commissioned by the city magistrates to plan the reconstruction of the entire building; however, he executed only the covering of the nave and aisles, the pavement, the dome and the apse.

The construction of the cathedral end in the 17th century. The dome and the medieval parts were restored in 1894-1900.

Museo del Tesoro

The important Museum of Treasure is inside the Duomo, near the sacristy. Set up in the suggestive underground environment, coated with the black stone of the Promontorio and specifically thought up by the architect F. Albini in 1956, today it is considered one of the best examples of a modern museum, with a good balance between conservative needs and the necessity of liturgical use. The collection includes silver and jewel works of art from the 9th century to reliquaries, processional arks, crucifixes, vestments, jewels and other sacred objects. The Sacro Catino from the 9th century is of particular historical and artistic relevance. It is made of green glass, and was even identified with the Holy Grail when it was bought to Genoa by a Crusader. The Ark of the Ashes of John the Baptist (15th century) made of gold covered silver is also very important, as is the Piatto di San Giovanni, which is believed to have held the head of the Saint after he was beheaded. It would also be worth looking at various documents relating to the history of the Cattedrale di S. Lorenzo , which include the papal bull of Pope Gelasio who consecrated the cathedral in 1118.