Cappella di Santa Caterina

Tucked into the fabric of the Bishop’s Palace, this small Baroque church is an exercise in architectural compression. Its three free sides face internal courtyards, while the entrance opens onto a narrow alley, a deliberate contrast between public and private. The gabled façade is a study in layering: a stone portal with Lombard-style columns and a full-centred archivolt supports a wooden door with lunette; above, a single splayed window sits lower than the pre-existing Romanesque one, a quiet dialogue across centuries. The tympanum is finished with a base of hanging arches, a Lombard motif that closes the composition. Inside, plastered walls still bear traces of Baroque decoration, though much has faded. Four splayed single-light windows (two per side) and two flanking openings to the courtyards admit a restrained, contemplative light. This is a chapel that rewards the patient eye, a palimpsest of architectural eras, compressed into a single, elegant gesture.

Description via source. Coordinates and heritage data from the Atika atlas.