The Cathedral of Portoferraio is dedicated to the Nativity of the Beata Vergine Marina and was built in 1549, the year in which the construction of Cosmoplis the Medici fortification also began. The church today corresponds to the structure of the early nineteenth century, when the two side chapels, added in 1623 to the building built in the Cosimian age, were transformed into naves.
Inside, the eighteenth-century altar dedicated to Madonna del Bon Voyage recalls the vocation of the seafaring city that entrusts its ship to Mary; in the altarpiece the spacecraft reappears as a votive addition in silver that an angel offers to the Madonna.
Paintings in the Cathedral of Portoferraio
In the cathedral of Portoferraio, among the paintings, the “Madonna del Rosario” is attested as early as 1632. The altar of the Immaculate Conception preserves the eighteenth-century papier-mâché statue depicting the “Virgin”; in the opposite nave, the altar with the wooden “Crucifix” dating back to 1549, already placed on the marble high altar.
360 ° internal view of Portoferraio Cathedral
How to reach the church dedicated to the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The Cathedral of Portoferraio, Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is located in the historic center of Portoferraio , within the walls beyond Porta a Mare, adjacent to the ancient piazza d’Arme.