Parish S. Maria Assunta

The building is the result of several interventions that have occurred over the centuries with a rather harmonious result. The most valuable part is the central part of the late Gothic facade which dates back to 1370 (the portal and the rose window can be appreciated). In the 17th century this church was raised and enlarged with the addition of the two lateral naves. The dome that surmounts the important chapel of San Biago is also from those years. Only at the end of the nineteenth century was the neo-Renaissance bell tower. According to some historians, the base on which the church rests would have belonged to an Etruscan-Roman temple.

This co-cathedral of the Diocese of Pitigliano-Sovana-Orbetello has a Gothic and Baroque style. It seems to have risen on the ruins of an ancient temple, but there is only information about the renovation works that took place in the late Middle Ages. On the facade a rose window overlooks the richly carved pointed portal. The interior has three naves: at the beginning of the left lateral one is the confessional where San Paolo della Croce worked. The side chapel on the right is that of San Biagio and contained the relic with the head of the saint before it was stolen during the last restoration works. There is a wooden choir in the presbytery and the pipe organ in the last bay in the right nave. The coat of arms of Orbetello is found in various places: a lion holding a fish with a harpoon.

April 6, 1183: with consistorial bull Congrua nos addressed to Abbot Dom Guido, Pope Lucius III confirmed all the assets and churches of the Abbey including the small church of s. Maria ad Portam pertaining to the jurisdiction of the Rectory of Orbetello (Santa Maria):… castrum quod Orbetellum vocatur cum pond circa se posito cum omnibus Ecclesiis et pertinis suis…. The pope declares to take the Abbey of Sant'Anastasio under his apostolic protection with all the possessions expressed in its proper terms and in detail, as confirmed by his predecessors. 1574: the extension works of the Cathedral begin (completed in 1582: elevation of the central nave, extension of the presbytery and addition of the two side naves), by the Spanish workers with partial contribution from the local community. 22 September 1582: with the Bull drawn up in the palace of Caprarola (VT), the cardinal abbot commendatory of the Three Fountains Alessandro Farnese elevates the Church of S. Maria d’Orbetello to the title of Insigne Collegiata, dedicating it to the Virgin of the Assumption. The Collegiate included 11 canonicals; the first four - established by the cardinal himself - are from 1582: Collegiate Church of the Assumption, San Biagio (in Ansedonia), Saints Vincent and Anastasio and Saints Fabiano and Sebastiano, co-patrons. December 9, 1692: construction has just been completed and the Chapel-Sacello of San Biagio is consecrated - commissioned by the Spanish Authority and by the Community of Orbetello which acquires the Giuspatronato. 10 - 19 April 1693: canonical visit of the bishop of Acquapendente (VT) Msgr. Alessandro Fedeli, delegated by Cardinal Paluzzo Paluzzi Altieri degli Albertoni. The related chronicle details the reality of all the churches visited and details the canonical areas, the liturgical and devotional aspects, the restoration or modification work to be carried out, and disposes to avoid improper situations and methods. 1749: Pope Benedict XIV, at the request of Charles III of Bourbon, King of Naples and of the Sicilies, grants the title of "Privilege" to the altars of the churches located in the Presidia of Tuscany; he had already granted this faculty to the Churches of the Two Sicilies. June 6, 1771: card. Commendatory Pietro Colonna di Sciarra announces that Pope Clement XIV declares that they are the main altars of the main churches (Orbetello - P. S. Stefano - Isola del Giglio) and gives the abbey priests the faculty to impart the Papal Blessing in articulo mortis. February 15, 1798: General Berthier declares the temporal power of Pope Pius VI lapsed; the Roman Republic is proclaimed, on the Napoleonic model: One and Indivisible. Some cardinals (Leonardo Antonelli, Giuseppe Maria Doria Pamphilj and others), expelled from Rome, stay in Orbetello. 1812: Napoleon decrees the abolition of the Tuscan Section of the Abbey and assigns it to the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Montefiascone, and subsequently to the diocese of Grosseto. 1859: construction of the Chapel of the Sagramento completed; the foundations were laid for the new bell tower which was to be completed in 1898 and the baroque one in 1772 was demolished.

An exciting evening mass on the day of the Assumption in the cathedral dedicated precisely to the Virgin Assumed into heaven. The building is really special: a splendid 13th century façade; truly remarkable is the early medieval altar altar. The fresco of the apse with a Madonna and a throne and saints reveals the Orbetello lagoon in the background. I was also struck by the confessional in which St. Paul of the Cross exercised.