The Duomo of Amalfi is a very peculiar architectural project: its composed by two basilicas, a crypt, the world-wide famous stairs, and a cloister.
The cathedral is sacred to Saint Andrew and from 987 is the seat of the archibishop.
The position is strategic: it is at the center of the town and it granted some defense against the many invaders who tried to take over the town during the past centuries.
There is little left from the original building of the Duomo, if not the columns that were taken by the roman ruins around the town.
Close to the apse you will be able to spot three segmental arches, typical of Byzantine architecture, right over a wonderful line of columns. The same kind of columns you will be able to admire in the chapels of Saint Cosma and Saint Damiano.
The story of the Duomo of Amalfi is the story of a church who had to undergo several modification during its life: many of the new parts are the sign of the importance of the bishops who always tried to make this building one of the most impressive of the whole country.
The ancient basilica was once sacred to the Vergine Assunta, the patron of the city.
The construction of the new building has been started after 987, when Mansone I, duke of Amalfi, managed to obtain from John XV a grant that made the church an archbishopric seat. After the new building, the church has been sacred to Saint Andrew.
At the beginning of the XIII century the crypt and the atrium were added to the building.
The new basilica started replacing, by that time, as most important religious building of the town, the old basilica of Vergine Assunta.
During the following centuries, there has been some additions that took the church to its current shape and appearance.