THE CHURCHES

La Canonica, whose facings are built in limestone and Brando cipolin marble, presents a basilical plan, comprising a nave and two aisles, covered by exposed wooden trusses, except for the bay to the right of the choir, presenting a barrel vault since the 17th-century. The nave ends in a semicircular apse, with apsidal basin. The edifice is covered with a grey granite roof. The round arch surmounting the naked tympanum of the western door is sculpted with griffons and quadrupeds in high-relief.
The apse is soberly decorated with small blind arcades alternately resting on volute modillions or on pilasters. The cathedral was flanked by a bell tower adjacent to the southern side wall, of which only its base is visible today.

Dedicated to the Virgin of the Assumption, Mariana episcopal cathedral was likely built at the beginning of the 12th century near the vestiges of a palaeo-Christian basilica. Consecrated in 1119 by the archbishop Landolfo of Pisa, it was most likely sided by an episcopal building until the 13th century. It was progressively abandoned by bishops since the late Middle Ages, because of the unsafe nearby shores, as confirmed by a document dating from the end of the 15th century. In 1530  Monsignor Giustiniani, bishop of Nebbio, deplored the state of ruin of the church. The constant threats posed by Barbaresque pirates induced Pope Pio V, in 1571, to authorize the transfer of the episcopal see to Bastia; the church of S. Maria was therefore assigned a cathedral role ‘until the reconstruction of the Canonica is completed’, declared the pope. Nevertheless, the Canonica remained the place where Mariana bishops continued to be consecrated until 1801.

In 1822, a report addressed to the Ministry of the Interior, indicated the need of restoration works. In  1839, the inspector of Historic Monuments Prosper Mérimée noted that the building was deprived of doors and that its roof was destroyed. The church was recognized as Historic Monument in 1886. It underwent significant restoration works in 1931, yet it was only in the year 2000 that its doors and windows were closed by the present glassed-in walls.

Coroneo Roberto, Chiese romaniche della Corsica. Architettura e scultura (XI-XIII secolo), Cagliari, 2006.
Coroneo Roberto, Architettura romanica dalla metà del mille al primo ‘300, Nuoro, 1993.
Moracchini-Mazel Geneviève, Les églises romanes de la Corse, T. 1, 2. Paris, 1967.