Il Archbishop’s Seminary was founded by Archbishop Gaspare Cervantes in compliance with a provision of the Council of Trent (1543-1563), in which he had participated, that ordered every Diocese to establish a college to train young people determined to embark on the priestly life.
The building of the Archbishop’s Seminary was then expanded by his successor, Antonio I Colonna, in 1570 and later remodeled again. In 1731, under the Archbishop of Capua, the structure was completely rebuilt and connected to the Cathedral with a staircase, and finally took on a strictly neoclassical appearance in 1832, when Archbishop Lupoli raised the second floor and transformed the entire main façade.
With Archbishop Mons. Marino Paglia (1835-1857), who initiated renovation works (construction of the marble altar in the chapel; refurbishment of the staircase; creation of large iron windows in the corridors overlooking the dormitories; frescoes with figures of saints and sages in the atrium), the fame achieved by the Salerno Seminary as a place of scientific and literary learning was such as to make it considered one of the best institutes in the Kingdom. For this reason, it was visited by Giacomo Leopardi in 1836, by Pope Pius IX, and by the King of Naples Ferdinand II in 1849.
The earthquake of November 23, 1980 caused considerable damage to the building’s structures, making it necessary, after more than four centuries, to completely and permanently transfer the seminarians to a recently constructed complex.
Information about the Archbishop’s Seminary of Salerno
Largo Plebiscito, 10
84125 Salerno (Salerno)
089239126
museodiocesanosalerno@virgilio.it
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