Amalfi Cathedral

What makes it special

The bell tower's dome is covered in green and yellow majolica tiles. The Cloister of Paradise was laid out in the thirteenth century as the cemetery of Amalfi's noble families.

The Basilica of the Crucifix is the older of the two churches. A restoration lasting sixty years stripped out its baroque additions.

The crypt was built to hold the body of St Andrew. Neapolitan artists frescoed its cross vaults in the seventeenth century, and it holds a bronze statue of the saint by Michelangelo Naccherini.

Inside the cathedral are a flat ceiling of gilded coffers and canvases from the eighteenth century. St Andrew's feasts fall on 27 June and 30 November, and on both days the procession ends with a run up the cathedral stairway.

Visiting

The ticket office is on the left of the church at the top of the stairway from Piazza del Duomo. One ticket covers the Cloister of Paradise and the Basilica of the Crucifix, and information along the route is given in many languages.

Start in the cloister and go on into the Basilica of the Crucifix. Then go down to the crypt beneath the high altar, where the saint's relics lie.

Finish in the cathedral itself, which is joined to the crypt by a staircase in the right aisle.

Tips

Cover your knees and shoulders before you go in. Shawls and scarves are handed out, but on a hot day bring a light shawl of your own.

Sit on the cathedral steps with a gelato after the visit and look down over the square.