Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta - Duomo di Como
Gothic cathedral with a facade flanking two pagan Roman statues beside its main portal.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Duomo di Como stands at the main portal beside a marble statue of Pliny the Younger, born in the city around the year sixty-one, and asks why a Catholic cathedral would carve a Roman official into its own front door. It walks through the letter Pliny wrote to the emperor Trajan around the year 112, asking how far to go in prosecuting a strange new sect that refused to worship the Roman gods, and Trajan's reply. You'll also learn why the builders paired him with his uncle, Pliny the Elder, the naturalist who died watching Vesuvius erupt, as Como's only two writers worthy of the honor. Look closely at the glass case protecting his weathered face, worn down by centuries of weather and smog.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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