Built on an ancient Roman building around 857, it has undergone several transformations according to the Romanesque style. Towards the end of the fifteenth century, the style of the cathedral was adapted to the architectural canons of the time. Prospero Sogari, known as Clemente, is the sculptor who takes care of the execution, however, remained incomplete. His works are the statues depicting Adam and Eve placed on the central portal, while on the sides between bands of marble that cover the median surfaces of the facade within the niches are Saints Chrysanthus and Daria and Saints Venerius and Mona Lisa, made by Clement and his workshop between 1572 and 1580.In the tower, on the facade, dominates the statue of the Madonna and Child with the spouses Fiordibelli (benefactors) in copper slabs embossed gold, masterpiece of goldsmith’s art performed by an exceptional artist: the Reggiano Bartolomeo Spani (goldsmith, sculptor, architect lived between the '400 and the first half of '500). The entire Duomo has chapels covered with precious marble and finely carved. The sepulchre of Orazio Malaguzzi (to the right of the entrance) executed by Clement is very important. Singular funeral monument of Valerio Malaguzzi (1510) by Bartolomeo Spani (3 st. chapel on the right side). Imposing tomb Rangoni (also by Clemente) in the chapel at the bottom (on the right side) next to the choir.
Inside the Cathedral is valuable the crypt whose construction dates back to the twelfth or thirteenth century. The architecture of the place is with cross vaults, supported by 42 columns with fragmentary capitals, mostly fifteenth-century (two bear the date of 1491), but also more ancient. The oldest part is the one with the altar that contains the ark with the bodies of the Holy Martyrs Chrysanthus and Daria. The general restoration took place in 1923.During the work was found a remarkable fragment of Romanesque floor (mosaic of the III-IV century) that leads from the plan of the crypt through a staircase, in an underground room. In the mosaic are recognizable geometric figures and animals including the deer at the source, The crypt is formed by three chapels: in the center with the tomb of the martyrs Chrysanthus and Daria, on the right the one dedicated to the fallen in war, decorated in 1923 by A. Govi, under this chapel a staircase leads to the tombs of the Bishops, in the left part, a bas-relief shows two Magi (XIII century), this slab was used as a tombstone of Bishop Enrico Casalorci (+1312) which is depicted on the back.
See the page of the IAT office in Reggio Emilia