Duomo di San Leo

The cathedral stands on a spur of the San Leo rock, in a place considered sacred since prehistoric times. Beneath it lies an older church, the first cathedral built when San Leo, then called Montefeltro, became the seat of a diocese. Fragments of that church remain: carved pieces, capitals and two winged lions reused to support a column.

The new cathedral was built by Lombard and Emilian master builders and reconsecrated in 1173, as an inscription records. It is entirely of sandstone, with pilaster strips and small arches running beneath the roof. There is no door in the façade: you enter from the side, beneath the busts of St Leo and St Valentine.

Inside, the aisles rise towards the raised presbytery and the crypt. In the crypt stood the sarcophagus of St Leo, of which the lid with its inscription remains: it was the destination for pilgrims who climbed from the coast towards the Apennines on their way to Rome.

On a nearby rock, separate from the church, stands the bell tower, Romanesque like the cathedral; it is usually closed and only opens on feast days. The Pieve is just a few steps away: both churches can be seen clearly from the fortress too.