Cattedrale di San Lorenzo (Genoa Cathedral)

The Cattedrale di San Lorenzo rises from a small square in the heart of Genoa's old town, its facade banded in black slate and white Carrara marble in the Ligurian Gothic manner, fronted by twisting columns and three deep sculpted portals. Consecrated in 1118 and dedicated to Saint Lawrence, the cathedral mixes Romanesque and Gothic work with a Renaissance dome attributed to Galeazzo Alessi. Inside, visitors find a soaring striped nave, the Renaissance Chapel of San Giovanni Battista that once held relics of John the Baptist, and, resting in the right aisle, an unexploded British naval shell that crashed through the roof during the 1941 bombardment and never detonated. The cathedral's Museo del Tesoro, reached from the sacristy, is the real treasure: a modernist underground vault displaying the Sacro Catino, a green glass dish long venerated as the Holy Grail and brought back from the Crusades, alongside a Roman blue-glass plate said to have held John the Baptist's head and a reliquary of his ashes. A visit to the cathedral itself takes around half an hour, with another twenty minutes for the Treasury. Entry to the church is free; the Treasury charges a modest fee and keeps shorter, separate hours. The cathedral can be busy with worshippers around Mass times and with tour groups in the late morning, so a visit just after opening or in the early afternoon is calmest. The best photographs are of the striped facade from across Piazza San Lorenzo and of the patterned marble nave looking towards the apse. Modest dress covering shoulders and knees is required, as it is an active place of worship in the centre of Liguria's capital. The cathedral sits a few minutes' walk from Piazza De Ferrari, Palazzo Ducale and the Porto Antico, making it an easy stop on any tour of the historic centre.