From the ninth century there was a church dedicated to Santa Maria. Rebuilt after the earthquake of 1117, was extended in the second halfà the two hundred.
The cathedral shows in the transept a decoration of classical taste, including lunettes adorned with the technique of the flattened ornate taste Romanesque, and sloping lozenges that they were sheltering in the center ceramic basins. The same diamonds are also present in the facade a salient, divided into three compartments by quadrangular pilasters type Lombard. The marble portal è consisting of the material to be reused from the roman theater of Vallebuona. The interior, while retaining in the structure and in the plant the basilican form a latin cross with three naves, offers an aspect late-renaissance. The space è divided by twenty two columns lined with stucco simulant pink granite, intervention carried out within the framework of the restoration of the 1842-1843, while the capitals in white stucco made in the sixteenth century and put a gold are Leonardo Ricciarelli. Also the walls painted in white bands and gray, the presbytery and the floor are the result of the restoration of the 19th century.
The sculptural group of the Deposition
This is the work of art moreù ancient you keep still inside the Cathedral. For its dating usually recourse is made to a document dated 3 January 1228 in which the bishop of Volterra Pay She lavished a particular indulgence to those who had the competition to the payment of the onerous expenses for the accomplishment of this work. The volterrani generously contributed so much that the chapel was consecrated on 24 September of the same year. The group of sculptures, the work of craftsmen volterra, consists of five figures: in addition to Christ in the act of support the hands and arms of the deposed are the Madonna and St John the Evangelist; moreover Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus portrayed while affannano with stairs and paraphernalia.
The baptistery of Volterra
An integral part of the religious complex of the cathedral of Volterra, the baptistery, dating back to before the year 1000, on the outside offers a beautiful alternation of light and dark stones, with an evocative and elegant polychrome play.
The interior, simple and solemn, is an invitation to meditation and reflection, allowing the visitor to enjoy the valuable works of art preserved, including the altar and the baptismal font.
