As promised in the introduction i'll start to tell you some little things about the Cathedral in my city, Salerno.
The Cathedral was build between AD 1080 and 1085 after the conquest of the city of Salerno by Robert De Hauteville.
It's very important for the mix between norman and arabic styles and it's one of the few churches in Italy (550) and in the world (1600) to be a "Minor Basilica".
We in Salerno also have the tomb of a Pope! It's the only one who is not in Vatican City!
In the church crypt there are the relics of Matthew the Apostle.
But i wanted to talk about the legends !!!!
One of them tells about a pirate invasion in the city, and when the pirates wanted to raid the Cathedral, the statues of the lions near the gate just came to life and ate the poor raiders!
I just love legends like this!
We also have a legend about a ghost that cryes on one of the sarcophages on the atrium (the tomb of the ghost husband((a Duke)) while a golden butterfly comes out of the sarcophagus itself to just fly away!
Legends aside , if you plan to come in south Italy please, come and visit this amazing Cathedral, it deserve , really deserve more fame! It's an amazing place, full of art , history and legends!
