Via Roma Cathedral

The Via Roma Cathedral has a composite style that's the result of the waves of invaders who sought to possess the mountain eyrie. In 1446 a fire destroyed the church, which was slowly rebuilt in early baroque style over the next 200 years. The curious façade (complete with 17th-century bell tower) covers its Gothic predecessor, while the rich interior is almost entirely baroque in design. The dark grey basalt columns are worth looking at for their highly ornamented bases, which are carved with a series of grotesques such as snakes with human heads.

Other points of interest are the Graeco-Roman remains (the base of the pulpit and stoup) from the Temple of Demeter; the medieval walls and Gothic transepts and some Renaissance artwork like the presbytery paintings (dating from 1613) by Filippo Paladino; and the altarpieces by Guglielmo Borremans. Ironically, the iron gate to the sacristy was taken from the seraglio (harem) in the Castello di Lombardia.