Piazza Duomo Spoleto Schedule

Did You Know?

The formal word for a church that is presently a cathedral is cattedrale; a Duomo may be either a present or a former cathedral (the latter always in a town that no longer has a bishop nor therefore a cathedral, as for example Trevi).

Therefore the uniform translation of these terms into English as cathedrals may not always be appropriate.According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word duomo derives from the Latin word "domus", meaning house, as a cathedral is the "house of God", or domus Dei.Italian cathedrals are often highly decorated and contain notable artworks; in many cases the buildings themselves are true artworks.

Similar words exist in other languages: Dom (German), Dóm (Slovakian), Dà´me (French), Domkirke (Danish), Dómkirkja (Icelandic), Domkyrka (Swedish), Domkyrkje (Norwegian), Doms (Latvian), Toomkirik (Estonian), Tum (Polish), and Tuomiokirkko (Finnish).

In German the term Dom became the synecdoche, used - pars pro toto - for most existing or former collegiate churches.

Duomo is a generic Italian term for a cathedral church.

Such churches are usually referred to simply as "Il Duomo" or "The Duomo", without regard to the full proper name of the church.