Why go
The cloister offers a close view of sculpture integrated with everyday religious space. Its corner columns identify the four evangelists through an angel, lion, bull and eagle. Other capitals draw on the Old and New Testaments, making the galleries a place to read individual images alongside the overall structure.
What to look for
- Paired slender columns support galleries originally roofed in timber.
- The corner columns bear an angel, lion, bull and eagle for the four evangelists.
The full story
The canons were priests who served the bishop and administered the church’s property. Their cloister was built at the end of the 12th century, when they were being encouraged toward a more austere communal life. Its location reused the ground of the Roman square beneath the cathedral complex. The galleries had timber roofs rather than stone vaults. Their slender pairs of columns reflect that lighter structure, giving the arcades a different character from a heavily vaulted interior. Sculpture adds meaning to the supports: the four corner columns bear the symbols of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The north and west capitals include scenes from both Testaments and a figure of Saint Peter. A worn marble slab in the west gallery has been suggested as the tomb of Bishop Basilius, associated with the first cathedral around 500, but that identification remains uncertain.