Crypt of the Cathedral S.Emidio

Work of art of eleventh-twelfth centuries, the crypt is accessible from the stairway situated in the left aisle. It is formed of seven small aisles, divided by 63 columns, made up of different fragmentary elements of Roman era. Works of transformation in order to raise the vault of the middle section by cm. 70 were carried out between 1704-1708, upon the design of Giuseppe Giosafatti (1643-1731). The demolition had to destroy the central apse dating to seventh-eighth centuries and of twenty-eight ancient columns, substituted with red marble from Verona in the capitals and marble from Carrara in the bases. The crypt assumed so a new form: it became square from semicircular.
The paintings on the vault lunettes are by Tommaso Nardini (1658-1718). The high altar is made up of a Roman sarcophagus dating back to sixth century, and decorated with undulating flutings. Inside are preserved the relics of Sant'Emidio, as attested by the medieval inscription on the superior cornice: Cum sociis aliis Emidius hic requiescit. Behind the altar is the marble group Sant'Emidio che battezza Polisia by Lazzaro Giosafatti (1694-1781). Besides the altar there is a gilded bronze votive lamp made by Umberto Pierpaoli (1969). The modern mosaic sequence adorning the apse is Scuola Vaticana del Mosaico's work, carried out on cardboards by Pietro Gaudenzi (1954). The two external aisles display different monuments, funeral niches and epigraphic plaques in memory of bishops, monsignors and illustrious men of church and city. Coming out of the crypt, on the right wall can be seen fragments of a mosaic pavement entirely made of white tesserae, found during the excavations carried out in 1882 for works of restorations. Slightly ahead is the entrance to the underground passage of the fifteenth century, placed under the pavement of Cathedral and used for a long time as a site of burial before the introduction of Napoleonic laws.